#yeah yeah gross yeah whatever ANYWAY WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT THE CHARACTER

[bite-the-bloody-hand]

Setting aside the knee-jerk 'eeeeew you're in love with your cousin' reaction to Daeran's illusion in Areelu's Lab, I need to talk a second about what a profoundly telling character moment that is for both Daeran and Galfrey.

Daeran refers to Galfrey as the 'Queen of his dreams' and mentions it being twisted by demon logic when questioned. It makes sense that demons would immediately latch on to a psychosexual implication, but it's not about having a crush on her.

The desire to have Galfrey 'out of her armor' is the desire to reconnect with the last member of his family.

He mentions when you ask about his Mother that she was a 'real' mother as opposed to a 'Countess' mother, implying that she was less interested in raising him to be a Proper Noble and more interested in just being present as his only parent. This is indicated in the glimpses we see of his younger self at the party, and in his often-stated resentment towards the necessities of 'proper comportment.'

Galfrey also mentions how close she was to Silaena, referring to her as a 'real' family member, the only person she was truly close to. From the way both of them speak about her, Silaena Arendae was a central, stabilizing part of both of their lives. Galfrey also mentions what a sweet boy Daeran was as a small child, implying a much closer relationship than the current mutual polite revulsion. @thedosianexplorer surmised to me that it's likely Galfrey was once a beloved, comforting figure in young Daeran's life, and I agree. How could she be anything else to the son of someone she so loved? And how awful must it have been to both of them to have that taken away?

Losing the rest of their noble family was certainly a blow, but neither of them even mention their names. The moment Silaena died, however, that was when they were both orphaned. What makes it all the more tragic is the grief that could have brought them closer only served to completely sever their familial connection.

Galfrey has no clue about the true reason Daeran clings so desperately to enjoying life; all she knows is that he may have physically survived but the child she loved was very much dead with the rest of them - in its place an irresponsible, flippant, spoiled brat unwilling to fill the space Silaena left behind. Daeran has no way of communicating the truth to Galfrey, and acts resentfully towards who or whatever else she puts her attention towards, while flaunting his lifestyle at every opportunity.

His lifestyle, as such, is an Emperor's Wardrobe of red flags, but it's hard to see those flags through tunnel vision stained with demon blood. Neither of them are allowed to mourn, but at least Daeran can try to be happy. But as for Galfrey, thedosianexplorer put it best in this hypothetical line:

'How dare you let yourself be happy, I haven't let myself be happy since your mother died.'

The tragedy is that Daeran's need for secrecy and Galfrey's state- and self- imposed martyrdom has created an impenetrable armor between them, and I think is at the heart of the loneliness they both feel. The cruelty of that moment, where the dream of connection is twisted into a mean joke, still sits with me.

[mikuchan]

Fandom theory:

Most fans do not like engaging with female characters because, deep down, they haven't worked on a bias they hold in favour of male characters and against female characters. Some even view them as competition. They view female characters as obstacles and people in the way of their ships instead of their actual characters, or even what they could have been. It is why they often disengage, hate, or flanderise female characters.

It is also why they are able to see the potential of male side characters who appear for few scenes and second, but treat canon, main female interests or deurogatonists as if they never existsed or like the worst female characters to ever exist. They build such a negative rapport of them and make it seem as if they were a big villain (news flash: they are traumatised individual).

This got long, so I'm putting it beneath a read more.

disclaimer that this is all lay opinions

deep down, they haven't worked on a bias they hold in favour of male characters and against female characters.

yes, for sure. I mean, the other options are either that the majority of media does just have awful/boring/flat women characters, or that women are just innately awful/boring/flat, and neither of those are true. In some media franchises, maybe accurate. But as a large-scale pattern?? Come on.

Some even view them as competition.

Yes. Fandom is very ship-heavy, and there is a tendency to sideline any potentially romantic competition (whether to enable a m/m pairing or to ship an OC). Ye olde Supernatural fandom was a biiig example of this lol, BBC Sherlock too. This line of thought opens up a whole other can of worms, of course, because that alone shouldn't automatically favor men -- every source but one* that I could find showed that while fandom is predominantly women, it's not predominantly straight women. We should be shipping everybody with everybody, by all rights, but every fandom-popularity metric (AO3 stats, Tumblr year in review, literally just scrolling through tags) does not reflect that at all.

(And honestly, even if it was all straight women in fandom, the whole 'it's all straight women, of course they'll focus on hot guys' excuse still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Media and culture popular with straight men isn't often about women; not from the top and not from the audience. Men, on a societal level, are expected to read and think and play games and write about men; and they do. Consider stereotypical nerd culture -- a comic convention, a game store, an early D&D campaign -- and, yeah, female characters like Lara Croft and Catwoman were there, but by and large it was men interacting with men about men. So it feels gross when that's tossed out as an explanation, as if it's reasonable for women-heavy spaces to also revolve around men and only men.)

It's not a one note issue, though, and I don't think it's all shipping. Again, lay opinions, but I've seen a lot of rhetoric basically saying: male characters are more fun to interact and play with because they offer a sense of space, and with that, emotional safety. Bodies/body shape, emotions (and how others perceive yours), relationship dynamics, pregnancy and families...topics that can feel very loaded when applied to a woman can become more manageable when packaged in a (cis/conventional) male character.

I do think Astarion was a shoe-in for Tumblr Sexyman anyway, but his themes of being trapped and abused clearly resonate with people, too. It's not all shallow. And while Shadowheart (and Karlach, and Minthara, and others) offers very similar themes, and a similar sense of catharsis when she stands up to her abuser...she's also a woman. Maybe she hits too close to home. Maybe you can't stop comparing yourself to her (which, as a woman, you've been trained to do basically since birth. I struggle with this a lot tbh, it is hard). Maybe she presses on whatever biases and issues you have inside. Whatever the reason, it's easier for some people to work through issues via a masculine or male character and sidestep those other issues.

So like, in that sense, I don't blame people for saying if I pay attention to Orin as well then I might think about why I like her less than Gortash, and then I might realize it's because I am unhappy with myself, or because I dislike my status as a woman in society for x reason, and that hurts and it's hard. fuck this, I want to sympathize with Gortash only. I'm not here to hurt and do hard work, I want to reblog cool art and write drama. but like ! this still sucks. It's a reasonable reason, but not exactly a good one. It's just capping the lid and saying mm, not dealing with that.

And I want to make very clear that I'm not saying girls should only care about girl characters because we have super special girly issues that can only be solved by writing fanfics about Minthara not Halsin because Halsin is a yucky boy. I'm trying to say: many women hold other women, including themselves and fictional characters, to unfair standards, or hold internal prejudice against them for sexist reasons, and turn to male characters for safe catharsis instead. This is understandable, but not healthy.

(Or they see any/all women characters as a Threat to their Hawke's adoration of Anders. Similar bias but less understandable/sympathetic, super annoying.)

*and that study is from 2008 (older than some tumblr users now) with only 3400 participants; we can contrast this information with centrelumina's much larger and more recent survey.

[misasimagines]

dating hcs / reader x Ren (Tokyo Debunker)

included characters: all about Ren (much like the rest of my blog sometimes...)

rating: SFW, nothing NSFW here I prommy.

warnings: he's just a menace. Only thing assumed about the reader is that you are smaller than him in one bullet point. These are also much more casual and not as polished as I try to make my normal fics so sorry if that bothers you!

I can't promise there won't maybe eventually be a part 2 or a NSFW version of this. genuinely someone save me please im being held hostage in my own brain.

Level 10 clinger but he won't admit it. He's just like Where are you going :/ when you get up and it's like bro I've been here 4 hours? And he's like …. whatever you can leave …. And that obviously means he does not want you to leave.

But it's somewhat okay! Because he actually gives really good hugs. Just only to you, everyone else gets the stiffest and most uncomfortable hugs that result in him shoving them away and groaning and complaining about harassment. With you, you get a nice snuggly hug and he groans and complains if you try to wiggle out too soon. give and take.

You can go make yourself some ramen and he's like hanging off you, arms wrapped around your waist, resting his chin on your head or shoulder like, are you making me ramen too? And you give in because he's being uncommonly cute. And then he's immediately giving demands like don't cook it too long and it gets mushy, that's gross, and don't add the seasoning packet on top like that because it gets all clumpy and gross like BOY do you want your ramen cooked for you OR NOT? No matter how you make it, he's going to make a face and be like “This is trash…no I'll eat it…it's whatever…” it's not trash, he's very touched, he's just insufferable.

If you're sleeping in the same bed as him and get up in the morning before he does, there is a non-zero (and by non zero I mean incredibly high) chance he's just grabbing you around the waist, pulling you back down, and complaining that it's too early. Okay? I have a job??? He will just hold you tightly and whine at you that he was warm and comfortable and you can't just leave him, he doesn't sleep as well without you. He's too tired to really realize what he's saying and will deny this later, instead being like ugh whatever you take up too much room in my bed, you're lucky I sacrifice so much for you… (wait don't go back to your room tonight, take me with you-)

On sleeping, you probably go in thinking that sharing a bed with him will be just sleeping on opposite sides as separate as possible. Not true. He's the big spoon and you are no different from a body pillow now the way he's laying half on top of you. If it's too hot though, then yeah, get out of his bed….I mean don't really, he'll complain if you leave, but he's sprawled out and doesn't want you to touch him at all.

Really doesn't want to go on dates. He's like we can just stay in, right? ….watch a movie and play games…. going out sucks and it's expensive and we could run into people we know and they'd ruin it anyway… but when there's a new movie that he wants to see, he's like we Have To Go. We Have To. But when it was YOUR ice cream shop he's like….it's too cold out to get ice cream why do you want to go there?? Just buy a popsicle at the convenience store or smth….

He will give in and do things you want, though. You just have to be clear with him that it should be fair and equal, where you go and when. You stay in with him one day, he goes out with you another. Equality. This doesn't stop him from complaining. He's true to himself there.

Really though he's just embarrassed about going out and being perceived as Guy Who Goes On Dates because that's just. Too much. So if he's ever really apprehensive, he's probably just overthinking and overstimulated by it and you should probably just accept it's a stay at home night.

Like if someone starts poking fun at him for being your boyfriend or something he's like instantly kind of freaked out and bothered. Not because he doesn't want to be your boyfriend but because having it pointed out and being a part of his identity just kind of scares him. He'll be off and probably a bit avoidant for a few hours at least because of this.

He DOES use you for excuses though. Haru walks in and Ren's like nope can't do anything today look, they're laying on top of me, can't move, would ruin their day, you don't want to ruin their day right? If you want them to suffer, you can make me leave and do work but that's on you then. And of course Haru is like 😭 I could never do damage to your lovely partner 😭 

Your own participation doesn't matter here. You could be standing up and the second Ren hears Haru's footsteps, he's yanking you down on top of him so he can make that excuse. 

As awful and selfish as he is, he can be sweet, he just can't have it acknowledged. He'll bring you stuff from the store if he thinks/knows you like it and he'll pick out movies you'd like and he would 100% follow you around in a mmo he made you start and just murder all the enemies for you so you can progress easily. + He's throwing high level gear your way because he doesn't need it and he would grind for the cute pet you wanted so he can give it to you.

If you want to vent and complain and bitch, he's your man. He's like yeah fuck that guy (never met that guy in his life) he sucks. He's your biggest supporter for being a hater. If you're like I hate this person - when he meets them? He hates this person too. They don't have a chance here.

Coworker or peer who's mean to you? He meets them and is immediately like [disgusted face] I see what you mean. And the coworker is like??? See what??? Bro???? And he's mean! He's not nice to them. He's not actively insulting them, but whenever they talk he's making a face and sighing like he's never been so disgusted before.

He also holds grudges for you. Someone bumps into you in public and doesn't apologize? Permanent spot on his shit list. Friend argument that makes you upset or, even worse, cry? That friend is dead to him and he will not forgive them on your behalf. Doesn't matter if you don't care or you forgive them, he is not letting it go.

Will put on actually scary horror movies to watch so when it's time for you to go home/send him home, you're like……um I don't want to be alone, I'm scared. And then he can be like ugggh fine I guess I can stay, you're so needy (LETS FUCKING GOOOO)

Doesn't really do pet names, but if you call him a pet name like babe, honey, sweetie, etc he's blushing and he'll basically do anything you want because he doesn't know how to Think right now.

If you're upset about something, he's not great at advice or comforting words, but he'll cuddle you and let you relax and he won't complain about it. He'll even go pick up a comfort meal for you or make you some tea/coffee/etc. He'll be like, You like this movie right? We can watch it. - even though you know, for a fact, he cannot stand that movie. 

He'll just hold you and pet your head and listen and stay quiet for once.

Mostly, he doesn't like attention being brought to any of the sweet or generous things he does, and he has to ruin most of his own shows of affection by being selfish or whiney. It doesn't mean that he didn't have good intentions when he did the nice act, he just can't have them like super focused on because he gets embarrassed. Say thank you or give him a little kiss on the cheek and don't gush about it and he'll be okay. Maybe a little blushy but okay.

Also he's a drama queen. I don't think I even need to elaborate on this because it's so evident but he just reacts intensely to some things even if he tries really hard to be Too Cool to look more than just annoyed. Good Luck Fellow Soldiers.

Actually please pull the most basic “jump out and scare him” pranks because he screams every time and it's hilarious and he hates it but it's payback for all the bad horror movies.

Also payback because he'd let you borrow his hoodies, and the sleeves would be too long for you, and when you're not paying attention, he'd pull the loose ends behind your back and tie them together and then pull the hood over your face so you're trapped and can't see. This is because he is evil. And he does it whenever he thinks you've forgotten that he does this, and even if you remember and fight back, it's a losing battle. He deserves all the terrible things that happen to him 🫡

He looks so smug when he does this and mostly just uses it for leverage to make you stay with him longer than you planned to or if you were being bratty or something. 

If you Wise up and try to avoid this, he'll just come up with new methods. He's stubborn and you're basically challenging him so… best of luck, soldier 🫡

[ritsukaaoyagi]

this is such a ramble Idk if any of this will make sense or actually it is super obvious and im realizing things about loveless and like fiction in general way too late AGAIN IM NEW To this. but I can’t sleep and I was thinking about what it meant to think about loveless “seriously” with new awareness of yun’s intentions for loveless literally being torture porn catboys (this should’ve always been obvious I know I know I’m sorry. but I mean what else can you gather from “I wanted to take everything away from ritsuka” and everything she said about seimei) and the more I think about it the perversity driving loveless is exactly what makes it so erm poignant but this is coming from someone who 80% of the time only really feels things from psychosexual fiction so whatever… honestly that’s not even true but whatever… or I guess like I always accepted loveless as erotic, but viewed that eroticism with some distance even within the story, because I found it hard to make sense of yun kouga’s pervert intentions inside a piece fiction that depicts abuse, trauma, and grief with such startling ummm clarity feels like the wrong word but idk. I mean put simply it was hard to understand why/how it’s possible to combine shotacon BL (idgaf if it’s not technically BL) with a “serious” abuse narrative. but then what’s a serious abuse narrative. literally what…

and the conflict comes from a place of wanting to rationalize?!? what’s going on, like sourit for example, and the idea I previously had of soubi hypothetically outgrowing his feelings for ritsuka as a result of Healing or whatever, because of course he doesn’t actually have feelings for the child, his being convinced he does comes from his own experiences with childhood abuse, a misplacement of feelings/desires or whatever… but the thing is loveless clearly isn’t concerned with whether soubi’s feelings for ritsuka can viably thrive, or if they make sense or not… like it’s a manga, it’s psychosexual torture catboy manga, it’s supposed to be confusing and muddled and gross, literally a major selling point of soubi’s character is that he is weird and lame, the draw of sourit is how gross and weird it is for an adult to be so attached to a grade schooler (obv coexists with the genuine empathy or whatever we might feel for soubi) and anyway soubi feels Something for him and vice versa, and yeah there are ummm like reasons and influences behind those feelings, but the feelings still exist as a result, and for loveless that’s kind of all that matters… that clingy muddled grossness… but it’s real for the characters obviously and nothing is ever really going to be “fixed” or resolved in that sense. sourit is obviously endgame 🤦🏼

also i guess i was thinking about this also because of mary gaitskill’s essay on lolita… from the book lolita in the afterlife… anyway she wrote about HH and kind of critiqued the idea of humbert’s insistence of love for lo and his flowery plea being a manipulative tactic to the readers/jury because though We might not call his feelings for lo “love” it would be wrong to say he didn’t think of it as such… i mean he really, in a sense, was a romantic, but to acknowledge this is hard to accept, because he was a romantic on His terms only, and it would be insane to consider abuse as love but it existed as such within the mind of this character. even typing “it would be insane to consider abuse as love” feels way too simplified and ugh i don’t know… FML

I guess what I mean is like idk loveless is so good because it fully commits to the characters and embraces all the wrongs which like obviously. UGH I DONT KNIW theres a better way to put it but i can’t put it. which i guess could also be the point

[m00nv4ll3y]

My take on Billy Lenz [Black Christmas 1974]

[yapping beyond the read more because its going to be A LOT and I know it..also I want to clarify THAT THIS IS MY TAKE! YES IM LOOKING DEEP INTO THE CHARACTER SHUT UP, THIS IS MY BLOG AND I CAN YAP! Thank you, Hope you enjoy!^^] TW- mentions of; FICTIONAL childhood trauma and abuse

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ One thing I see a lot, not just on Tumblr, but on most platforms i'm on- is that people think Billy Lenz is this big creepy horndog that just always jacking off. Personally I think people are just looking at it from the sorority girls POV and now actually listening to ANYTHING he says or looking at his behaviors. Yes, he does call them and pig squeal and taunt them with his dirty words, but I don't think that is out of just being horny, I think it is a trauma response. When Jess picks up the phone on multiple occasions, Billy is screaming in what could be said in his mothers voice, fathers, and baby Agnes. He is replaying every major trauma that happened in his childhood; "WHERES THE BABY?! WHERES AGNES?!" etc. As seen when he is freaking out in the attic, he is kicking and hitting things; he is mentally unstable and especially after killing the girl(s), it only gets worse. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ [TW- slight mention of an actual crime case I remember hearing/reading about-] Does anyone know the case where the owner of a parrot was murdered and the parrot or whatever bird it was, repeated what happened word for word, sound for sound? It did that and helped the cops solve the case- but besides that, the reason why the bird did that was because it was a huge, traumatic event that happened near and in front of the pet. Now, knowing that trauma can affect humans and pets, remember the last paragraph? Billy repeats the trauma that happened to him because of how badly it affected him and how it messed with his mind as a child. Being the researcher as I am- I know that as a child, their brains are like sponges, as kids we soak up everything around us because that's how we learn and fully process that "Hey! I live in this world! I'm a person in this community of people!" and that is usually how it goes. However, if the childs home life is abusive- psychically and mentally- the child wont look at the world with a good view anymore because they have had the worst of it. Kids are supposed to learn about the world by their loving parents teaching them how they should and shouldn't behave, how they should react etc. But when the parents lack the common knowledge that hurting your child isn't okay, that kid will grow up and be mentally destroyed. This doesn't mean they wont get better, but it does mean they will have more challenges. The abuse and torment that Billy got as a young boy, mainly from his mother [as we sort of get that he was raped and abused by her, not saying his father is clean btw], changed how he saw things and his mindset as an adult. I don't think Billy is some horny, gross, creep and I will die on that hill. He just needed love and support but nobody ever gave him that so he never fully grasped how life should be because horrid and filthy things were all he knew growing up. I am up and dying on this hill and I know I am- but anyways, Billy is just really traumatized from his past and I think most people took his trauma or how he taunted the girls as being horny and sick when that's really not how I think he is. He is just mentally unstable.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

ALRIGHT! Thanks for reading my TED talk, hope you liked it lol- ESPECIALLY YOU @veroxityyy !!!!! Just remember that this is MY take and yeah, I did go a little over, but idc- shut up please, thank you. Yes, I know this is just a fictional character and I didn't reaaallllyyy need to do ALL THAT but again. SHUT UP<3 This is just the way I saw things, from watching it and having an actual brain that isn't just mush, thank you✨ hope you actually enjoyed reading this yap though!! -MoonValley

[v4mp1r3viktor]

Quick talk about asexual headcanons for Jayce and Viktor:

A lot of people sexualize Jayce and viktors relationship like a CRAZY amount as well as their individual characters (I mean they’re queer characters and a queer relationship so of course people have to be gross about it), like people who treat Viktor like he’s a helpless little twink or jayce is like this himbo freak who wants to be constantly dominated and stuff which isn’t a problem I suppose as long as you’re not being ableist in terms of how you write Viktor than to each their own I guess, it’s not personally my cup of tea !! (Also to clarify I have nothing wrong at all with any nsfw headcanons or fics or works that people put out I’m just saying historically most queer people especially mlm or wlw relationships are sexualized the hell out of and it’s gross)

But I’ve seen some people talk Viktor or Jayce being asexual which I thought was really cool so I wanted to give my take on it !!

Viktor: in my head he either doesn’t really put much value in sex or thinks little of it, like if he wants to get with someone then he’ll have some random hookup or whatever just for the pleasure of it but it’s a single time and then it’s back to his normal life, and/or he’s demisexual/demiromantic and literally has no feelings about any of that stuff at all until he’s truly gotten to know the person (like jayce….HHENSJ) in my head I like to think Viktor is autistic but that could just be me project but a lot of people also think that and way too many people headcanon autistic people asexual because that’s the stereotype or whatever but I 100% agree with the experienced Viktor headcanon, but I do like the idea of him being demisexual because that makes the most sense for his character

Jayce: I would not be shocked if he was canonically asexual, and I know what you’re gonna say “the scene with him and Mel” LET ME FINISH. (like mel did…) ANYWAYS, I really see him being gray sexual because he just seems like he enjoys the romantic aspects of a relationship more than anything, he’ll have sex and he can enjoy it but it’s not a strong desire at all, if anything the majority of the reason he does it is to make the other person happy or feel good, like he makes think of that “put your clothes back on. I wanna show you my equation first.” LIKE DOES ANYONE GET WHAT I MEAN AHHHH but yeah those are my thoughts

THANKS FOR TUNING IN FOR ANOTHER ONE !! CATCH YOU ON THE FLIPPITY FLOP!

[mrmanbat]

Saw that you reread Red Robin and wanted to ask abt ur thoughts on it all :3 that whole series is some of my fav comics ever- plus I own the full set lol. Favorite part? Something you didnt like? Thoughts about Tim's development and character throughout? Thoughts on the whole Ra's situation? Tim being passively suicidal lol. Or how Tim gets. Just so many bitches. All the bitches. Tim Drake canonically gets bitches. They really look at his failboy swag and go "Yeah I'd hit that" 😭 wheezing.

Anyway yeah, they're like my fav comics so what are your thoughts on them?

And Happy Christmas! Or Happy Holidays if you do not celebrate. Merry ChristmaHannuKwanzaa!

Happy Holidays! (sorry if this does sound cohesive- I wrote right after finishing a 17-page essay, and my brain is actually fried)

The RR comics are so nostalgic to me; they were literally the reason I even picked up a comic in the first place.

The comedy in them gets me every time like Damian accusing Steph of stuffing her bra, gold. And the unintentional stuff like giving Tim an ungodly amount of rizz is just so funny, I can't. Bros is literally a Casanova but can't enjoy it bc, yk, he's busy trying to bring his father back from what is essentially death.

He's just in a long downhill spiral, yk? And he just progressively gets worse throughout his run as RR. The scene where Tims accepts death but Dick swoops in to catch him, and Tim has to lie his ass off, saying that he "knew his brother would catch him," just really brings that point home.

It started off as "No one believes me about Bruce, I'll just have to take. things into my own hands," then it goes to "I barely believe myself about Bruce, but it's too late to turn back now," to "Fuck this, if I die I die- womp womp, too bad I won't be able to tell Dick 'i-told-you-so"'

Tim is self-aware of his self-destructive nature; he knows that all his friends and family are trying to get him to seek help, but he just doesn't care. To him, the mission is more important- batman is more important.

(Side note- Dick trying to get Tim to see a therapist is a lot more impactful than how Fanon twisted it into Dick-trying-to-send-time-to-Akham.)

I'm split on the Ra's thing. I love the concept; I think he was a good choice for the main 'villain,' and I think there was so much potential with Tim reluctantly having to work with Ra's. I just don't think it was done all too well by the writers. A good chunch of Ra's motivation didn't align with his character- at least, I don't think so. And the whole thing with his sister just feels so unnecessary and gross.

Overall, though, I flipping love these comics. They would be better if DC didn't, yk, undo all the cherecter development by making Tim Robin again, but whatever. You win some, you lose some.

[gallavich-annise]

Shameless Rewatch Thoughts! 

Civil Wrongs

I think season three has grown on me on rewatch. I remember it being the turning point, but still having significant flaws (especially things like the Hymie plot and Kev and V's baby making plot). And those flaws are still there, but I think the good points are shining brighter this time around. 

And this episode was another good one. Not as good as Frank the Plumber, I think, but funny. I laughed out loud more than I sometimes do. But there are still the threads of drama and sadness in some stories. That said, I think it spent too much time with Frank. 

We have Fiona getting on well in her new office job and getting on well with the boss, while Jimmy breaks the news that he wants to go back to med school. Frank continues his gay rights activism until he gets a better offer. Lip has lots of emotions about Karen while she's in a coma. Kev and V get exciting news. And Ian finds out who Mickey's marrying.

I'll start by saying that Debbie and Carl are woefully underused this episode. My approach to these posts is to watch the episode, then skim back through making notes of the scenes so I don't forget a plot... I didn't note down a single thing Carl does the whole time. Debbie gets a couple of banger lines "what are you taking with Mandy about" "you, Karen, and the unfathomable male soul." But not a whole lot else. She makes soup for Sheila, which is very sweet, and refuses to let Lip take it to the hospital and take credit for it, which is very real and sisterly. 

Oh and then later we have her asking about getting braces for her teeth and the epic "I have red hair, freckles, and crooked teeth, I don't need any more character." Bless you Debbie. 

But nothing there constitutes a plot. 

That's fine, overall... I guess it's sad that they couldn't work Debbie and Carl more organically into the other plot lines going on, but the episode didn't feel too over-stuffed. It has the three central plots around Frank, Fiona, and Lip, and the tributary plots for Ian, Kev and V, and Jimmy Steve. 

Frank... Well for having found the set up last episode hilarious and brilliant, this continuation is a lot more of a mixed bag. His first speech is pretty funny, but then it's just Frank whinging for more and getting greedy. I don't find that compelling.

After two of these speeches, one of which is at a high school where he gets a bit age-inappropriate and it's very cringe, he gets accosted at the Alibi by a guy who wants to convert him and use his minor celebrity status to advertise his conversion therapy. And yeah, it's pretty gross, but when Frank finds out it involves fornication and free hotels, he's on board! 

Ugh. Just... The whole plot was icky. The fact that it's Frank and he's laughing the whole time because hoho he's already straight, makes it marginally amusing in places. But I think it spends a bit too much time on it. I felt so sorry for the poor butch lesbian he ends up paired with... Especially where the jokes are around her being unattractive (yay, let's objectify a woman's boobs because she's not in her twenties and doesn't look impossibly perky 🙄). I don't think it annoyed me as much while I was watching and it does now, but... I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as the other threads. 

Anyway, a sweet gay hotel employee figures out that Frank is sleeping with a woman and calls Abraham. The episode ends with Abraham and two attractive young guys and Abraham saying he has to prove he's gay. And... Well... In context it's amusing. But after the fact I get annoyed because that's not how anything works, Abraham "I like to watch" is being creepy, and while I know Frank is faking and being a dick, there's still that thing I always get where "just because it's happening to a character who I don't like doesn't actually mean it's okay." But I doubt Frank goes through with anything so it's more a threat than an assault I guess. I don't know, it was skeevy. It's whatever. Maybe I'd have been less bothered if Shameless didn't pull this kind of shit repeatedly and with no apparent self-awareness. 

Frank's plot has very little bearing on the rest of the Gallaghers so there's no natural place to go from there. The only connection I have is Kev because while Abraham is looking for Frank, he runs into Kev "I remember best when tipped to do so" 😆.

And, well, Kev and V don't have much else... V is upset that it's nearly her mom's period due date and Kev offers to go buy a pregnancy test (I'm glad they're at least being sensible about this now and testing at the point you're supposed to and not surviving ridiculous money on pregnancy tests every day like they said in season 2... Maybe someone in the writer's room got half a clue).

I did love their lines "you want me to go to Walgreens and pick up a pee stick" "honestly?" "No, lie to me. I hear it makes marriage's thrive." It's just delivered perfectly. Made me laugh.

Anyway... They drag it out a bit with V being despondent in anticipation of bad news, and Fiona being a supportive friend for a moment, but the long story short is that Carol is pregnant! So it was all worth it?! Maybe?! I mean, gah. 

Telling the whole Alibi is... A Choice? Not a choice I'd make. I just listened to the South Side Rules episode about 3x05 and the start of this plot and they point out that given V's age, Carol must be at least in her 40s, and that is not traditionally a risk-free time of life to be having a baby, and... Yeah, disappointed in myself that I didn't twig that... Carol's youthful appearance notwithstanding. I guess maybe she had V as a teen?! But there's a whole level of stuff they just ignore if that was the case. But there's a reason most people hold off on announcements until the second trimester, because there's just a whole other swathe of people you now have to tell if something goes wrong. But it's their choice, and I loved their loud and open glee, and Kev threatening to stir cocktails with the pregnancy test. 

Okay, so next... Fiona and Jimmy Steve, I think. 

I really loved the way this plot progressed... I don't have a huge amount of sympathy left for Jimmy Steve at this point, but I loved Fiona here. She's getting on well at her job! Making professional connections. They're teasing her and, yeah the boss is flirting with her, but it's mostly cute. He invites her to play softball! She's actually got a job that seems to suit her and it's pretty great.

Then we have Jimmy. Jimmy drops the "I wanna go back to med school" bomb first... And ekes out everything else as Fiona gets used to each new thing. And she is beautifully supportive! Like, it's not necessarily a straightforward thing... Especially when they're struggling financially. And she assumes he'll be close by... Which is when he drops the bomb that he'd need to go back to Michigan to complete his credits if he doesn't want to start from scratch. 

And Fiona leaves to go to softball while she processes that bombshell. She has a wonderful fun game and I found it really quite powerful having this juxtaposition between her professional life looking really good, her options looking good, but then her romantic life is suddenly imperiled in a way she really didn't see coming (because Jimmy Steve is a lying scumbag and doesn't tell her everything). 

The argument is really quite good, actually. I love that she's not saying he shouldn't do this or that it wouldn't be a good thing, just that he's not taking into account fully how this would affect their relationship. And she's right! A year is a long time! Especially for her, where they're always living week to week. In her assumed future year, Lip might be in college, Ian will be graduating high school... None of them know what any of that will mean for the family yet. 

And... It's actually quite nice to have Fiona in a good situation when this happens. It's not a point where they're in crisis and Jimmy's dumping this on her... Things are actually starting to look up and he's providing the drama. But I feel like the way she reacts to it is dramatically different because she's had this confidence boost of work going well! It feels very true to life, because you cope very differently when things are going well generally versus badly... I really enjoyed that. This isn't "we are literally digging up a body" Fiona. This is "you're gonna be a great doctor but I'm worried about what this means for our future" Fiona. 

There's one other scene in this plot that I liked with Jimmy Steve and Beto. Beto playing with Liam is adorable, and making snarky remarks about visiting on Jimmy's mistress' porch. And when Jimmy Steve posits moving to Michigan, Beto is like "dude I have no say in this, I just have to follow you. But you will need to convince her" "Fiona?" "Estefania! Your wife!" And... Yeah for all the terror of the Brazilian Mafia, Jimmy seems to have forgotten her again?! Ugh. But it's a nice scene and Beto is great.

That story is going to continue into next episode where Jimmy will land another bombshell on Fiona, but whatever... I'm done with Jimmy Steve at this point. 

So... Let's visit with Ian before I finish up with Lip and Karen and Mandy. 

Ian doesn't have much here, except for another conversation with Mandy where she is very dismissive about Mickey's impending marriage. I want to write an essay about what's going on in Mandy's head with regards to Mickey, because while I don't think they're portrayed as super close (they rarely even interact on screen!), I feel like she cares a lot more than she lets on, but it's hard to know what exactly is going on. I am still amazed that she never figured out about Mickey and Ian... It seems to paint her as much more stupid than she is. Does she really believe in this "someone's pregnant, someone got her pregnant, thus marriage" thing? Is that an assumed in the Milkovich house? Given that her mom is started to have had a baby at 13 (🤢) that wouldn't have been possible? So... Who knows. Another place where the dearth of Milkovich lore is a sad loss to us all. 

But anyway, from all this, Mandy lets slip that the fiancee is a "Russian hand-whore" and where she works... At which point Ian goes investigating and sees Svetlana. 

And poor baby Ian. Finally tells Lip, who is aghast both at events and that Ian didn't tell him. It's a parallel to season one's "Mickey's gay and we're doing it" speech, but darker and a lot more heartbreaking. I love that Lip once again realises how easily Ian keeps secrets when he wants to. "How did I not know this" "I didn't tell you". And... Lip's "did it work?" is entirely in character for him, and I am always heartbroken by the doubt in Ian. What he says sounds sure, but his whole demeanor says "maybe it did". "I know what he felt with me, you can't fake that" baby Ian! Poor traumatised darling!

I saw a post recently talking about Lip's response here (and Mandy's response to Mickey in episode 12) being a result of his own feelings about his relationship with a Milkovich. He essentially says "forget about him, find someone else". I feel like it's notable that it's before he finds out that Mandy hit Karen with the car... But he's still in a "Milkoviches are bad news" mindset, which is a bit of a shift from his previous "Mandy's good for me" decision last episode... I realise the Karen stuff puts him in a different mindset in general, but... Aside from being a little uncaring about the Karen situation, he doesn't know Mandy's done anything wrong at this point. 

His advice to Ian is... Unhelpful anyway. Yes, he could easily find someone else (it occurs to me, this attitude from Lip feeds a little into Ian's behaviour in season 4, but I mostly blame Monica for that because Lip at least thinks Ian should be going for someone more age appropriate). But the boy is in love! And how did "just sleep with someone else" work for you when you slept with Mandy while being in love with Karen, huh Lip? 

Ian turns it around, rather than engage with Lip's advice... Mandy's upset. I liked "she cares about you. Why I don't know, you can be kind of a shithead." And the "how did we get mixed up with two members of the Milkovich family" "bad parenting" is cute and amusing but... I don't feel like that retort actually reflects Ian's feelings on the matter. It's kind of just a cheap line. But if it had been me and my brother was bad mouthing my boyfriend and my best friend in one fell swoop, but I didn't have the energy to get angry about it, I too would probably be glib and deflective, so it just about works.

But anyway, this is now naturally shifting into talking about Lip... So, let's go there. 

Lip. Sigh. So Lip feels bad that the last thing he said to Karen was to break up with her and so he chooses to forget all the reasons he did that and is mooning over her while she's unconscious. I get it, I do... He had committed himself to getting over her but he hadn't actually done it and now he's faced with her possibly dying or never waking up, which is very different to "I'm leaving you, you get on with your life and I'll do the same". But it's still sad to see him fall instantly back into those patterns. 

Debbie correctly points out that he's taking Mandy for granted, and says he needs to treat her better. He takes this on board and does make half an effort, but not really... 

Instead we see him look at grainy pictures of Karen on his phone, and he visits Karen a couple of times. The first I noted down as "Lip lip wibble" because I'm hilarious and that's pretty much all that happens. The second time he goes back to criticise Jody and Sheila's choice of music to sing to Karen while she sleeps "maybe you should do stuff she likes". He's a bit of a dick about it, in a Lip way, but Sheila acknowledges that he's right. 

Then Jody leaves and Sheila talks to Lip, who feels bad that the last thing he said to her was mean, and Sheila reassures him that she was so happy he texted! She was so happy she forgot to look both ways. And Lip... Is not stupid. He gets her phone, finds the message that he knows he didn't send and puts 2 and 2 together. He's pretty good at math. 

I liked that he doesn't instantly confront Mandy about it. It's one thing to confront someone over bad behaviour, and I think he would have if he'd found out she'd done something regular mean or jealous... But hitting someone with a car is a different level of bad. So he sits on it, pretends to be asleep. Thinking how best to deal with it. 

I wonder how the conversation with Ian would have gone if it had happened after that revelation? I think it would have been a lot more "you're better off without him, get out and get away while you can". All of the complicated emotions around this, which Shameless is so good at evoking. Really strong stuff.

Unfortunately I just realised I've left myself with a few odds and ends with Jody and Sheila to wrap up last... 

So... The first scene of them in the hospital is actually genius and I loved it. A busy doctor is doing ~something~ to Karen and Sheila tries, hesitantly to get him to explain, but he is rubbish until Jody looks him dead in the eye and delivers the killer line "I'm not a violent dude but if you try and leave here without telling us what's going on in words we can understand I will lift your tiny body and throw you out the window". I adored that line and delivery so much. So the doctor explains that they've turned off the drugs that are keeping her in a coma, but they don't know yet what her outcome is gonna be. She might not wake up straight away, she might still never, and when she does she might have brain damage. Why he couldn't have just said that in the first place is a mystery... I feel like Shameless doesn't have a whole lot of good medical practitioners, and I'm never sure if that's a writing choice (poor areas getting worse care etc) or an unintentional writer bias... It could be either, because while this does feel like an intentional "this doctor is bad at his job, or at least at patient communication", it's unclear what that's trying to say about anything, and sometimes the bad doctoring just seems to be incidental (like the very abrupt doctor who tells the Gallaghers how Monica is in season 2).

The second big scene with Jody and Sheila, I'm less of a fan of. Because Jody is being sweet, caring and pragmatic, and Sheila gives this whole spiel about how Karen always wanted a prince to rescue her and you were her prince and I stole you from her. And... I get that she's gonna be Hella stressed, sleep deprived and highly emotional and Joan Cusack does sell it that way. But... Karen didn't want Jody. Karen very very much did not want Jody. She discarded him, and then Jody and Sheila got together. I don't think it was an okay thing for a mother to sleep with her kid's husband... But in context it wasn't her "stealing" Jody. It was taking Karen's discard.

And Jody doesn't say how he feels about it all. We haven't seen much of their relationship since his latest step into recovery. Clearly that would put some strain on them as a couple as they both wrestle with what Sheila stepping on Jody's boundaries did... But the narrative doesn't explore that. We don't see any of that. We just see Jody take Sheila's little speech on board and... I guess take it as gospel? 

Obviously Jody loved Karen at one point. But then he loved Sheila. We never see what his thoughts or emotions are on the subject, so this whole plot felt very "bye Jody, you're off now too" which is lazy writing and more poor treatment of a character who had been continually underserved in general. The moments when Jody really shone make me feel bad for how badly the character was treated in general. But he's also not my favourite so it's not that I'm desperate for him to stay or to stay with Sheila... I just want it to all be better motivated than "my girlfriend thinks I should get back with my wife". It's very... Whatever.

Then... Jody goes down on Karen and I have lots of feelings about that too. Because unconscious people can't give consent and the last we heard from Karen she Didn't. Want. Jody. So... So far everything that's being done is expressly against the wishes of Karen as we last saw her, and in the creepiest way possible! 

But at least we get a funny scene of Jody saying he can cure comas 😐.

Ugh. 

Which... Concludes this week's ramble I guess.

That's an odd place to end given that, overall I enjoyed this episode! I felt like I laughed at funny lines a lot, and the central plots with Lip and Fiona were pretty effective even when I feel like the characters (Lip) are making bad decisions. This is the making bad decisions show and I can get behind that when it's clearly motivated and in character. The Ian stuff is heartbreaking. The Frank stuff I can take or leave. Kev and V are mostly delightful.

And I know that the next two episodes are going to be pretty heavy, so I will take the moments of levity and cherish them. 

See you next time.

[betty-fran]

#my fanfiction recommendation column

a passage that sings by dorkorific

part 1 / part 2

Okay, so I never actually read fanfics about real people (let alone write about them), that's my rule because, hey, these are real guys who have nothing to do with the characters they play, and they have a right to respect for their personal space. But there are three important reasons for this rare exception to the rule.

This is really well written. It's a bit of literary snobbery, a play on words, but also a bit of American dissidence, good literary taste, it reminds me of my summers on the beach with a Kerouac paperback, Vanity of Duluoz, his latest, where he switches from topic to topic in a completely nonsensical order, and do you think how much port he had to drink to do that? But I love it with all my heart. So damn, yeah, it's pretty well written.

Maybe it's a little bit of vindictive feelings towards Zachary Quinto's interview, where he bluntly states that there's something wrong with people who see K/S relationships as anything other than friendship, because “I think both Kirk and Spock, and definitely me and Chris, are only good friends. Any suggestion otherwise has more to say about the person making that suggestion than it does about the character's lives.” And I’m like, damn, how can you be so homophobic? Like, no shit man, we love the things we love, just because it's what resonates with us, helps us feel whole, because it makes us happy, but as long as it's not ruining someone's life, why is it a problem? No one criticizes you for choosing a book to read before bed or a partner to greet the morning with. So yes, I can read a fanfic once that violates my ideas about a real person's personal space, just as his words violated my ideas about a fan's personal space, so it's fair. Besides, it was still a typical K/S.

I just wanted to use this young Chris Pine's photo somewhere. He's such a nerd here. It's so cute and reminds me of my primary school. My best friend had the same glasses, I had the same cap, and we would hide from the teachers in the closet, arguing about who was cooler, Magneto or Professor Xavier.

So, like, this was my bedtime book, and it was good. A few (almost non-spoiler) quotes to give you an idea of ​​how good it is:

Then he laughed, a little helplessly. "You know what's weird? For some reason I thought you were the person to talk to about...this stuff. You know. Feelings." "Uh," Zach said. "Have you met me?" "I know," Chris said. "I know! Obviously I was temporarily insane. You can't even talk about talking about feelings.

"Well, it's – okay, two things, actually. Since when don't you hate the people you sleep with?" "I mean," Zach says. "I'm trying not to. It's a work in progress. Mostly I still hate them except now I feel guilty about it."

"Is it?" Chris says, raising both eyebrows now. "You're a mess, dude, are you aware? Sexually. Emotionally. You need therapists for your therapists."

"What do you want," Chris says with some irritation, "an affidavit, in triplicate? I like you, asshole. You've known that for years." "You like a lot of things. Twizzlers. Clogs. Crank, and also the sequel to Crank. Phil Collins. Your taste is questionable."

The pizza has spinach and peppers and fresh basil and whatever other nonsense Chris insisted on. They eat it sprawled naked across Zach's sheets and watch infomercials and later Chris says "O-kay then" in a businesslike way and clicks off the TV and rolls Zach over and then over again, and Zach pins Chris between his elbows and just looks at him for a minute, helplessly. Then Chris kisses him and his mouth tastes like chewed tomato sauce, gross, and Zach knows probably he's been this happy before but, anyway, he can't imagine when.

And after all, it's a good time to read Carver, isn't it?

[millidew]

more tdi 2023 thoughts babyyyy (mostly s2)

reboot cast....so good...

the voice actors KILLED IT omg?? i wanted to list some i especially liked but it was literally all the contestants lmao

the millie reveal? that was so good for all 3 involved. despite doing nothing except attempted murder in s2, that part lets millie stay pretty high on my tier list. its probably the best 5 minutes of the season

yeah chase made me laugh. HE'S FUNNY I CAN'T HELP IT!!!

i love bowie. that's all i came here to say.

^(but bowemma breaks up permanently but priyamillie gets to make up...i see how it is writing team)

bowie vs julia mlm wlw hostility is peak. KILL EACH OTHER!!!

in s1 during her elimination confessional when axel was like I PUSHED SOMEONE OFF A BOAT AND ORDERED THEM AROUND TO LET THEM KNOW I WAS SUPERIOR. I DID NOTHING WRONG!! that's when i knew she was peak

emma and bowie are neck and neck i think, but bowie edges out by having more screen time and more going on

i did like ripper but i'm not the biggest fan of gross out humor so he was bumped down to ok. i liked him otherwise tho

season 2:

ok there's no way everyone is that mad at bowie. priya, millie, emma, caleb, yeah, probably damien because he's normal, but i know axel does NOT care about priya and millie like that. that being said, his "apology" ("skill issue lol") was funny and i like that raj helped him plan this between seasons

(edit: I was gonna ask why CHASE is mad at him before I realized it was probably for shittalking him and not breaking up priyallie…despite going “LOL chicks am I right Bowie, the gay guy who hates me?” earlier)

raj: i stand with my canceled wife

wayne: i also stand with my bro's cancelled wife

also last season's finale when bowie was instantly like "the others will help us? easy i pick raj" and the moment he can pick teams in s2 he does just that. <3 (also him being weak to puppydog eyes and accepting that he'll give up the strategic advantage for his bf and because he's a changed man or whatever) (i love him)

with no mention of the bowemma friendship and millie not being mentioned again after her elim... yeah the power of friendship was really struggling this season outside of the hockeybros and mkulia

emma. EMMA.... i mean she IS a bad judge of character but she left SO EARLYYYYY NOOO

i miss her

^also what i thought the second bowie left, but it felt right in that one since he was a finalist last time, and we have julia and mk as dual antagonists this time

i still miss him

but! good play from mkulia

the hockey bros randomly being super attached to damien was cute. i like that. good for them. damien was done dirty with that elim even tho it was probably the right time

ripaxel was ridiculous and that's why it's good. good for them. axel found the dumbass boyfriend of her dreams but had to sacrifice half of her pre-existing character to do it

at least we had mkulia which is always good (even tho i feel like maybe mk should've been the main antagonist of the season) (i feel like EVERYONE wanted a damien/mk/oneofthehockeybros finale lmao)

i liked julia well enough in s1 but she's at her best when she's with mk. i admit near the end both her and priyaleb were feeling a little dragged out but thankfully mk came back and julia was great again

they way they hate everyone and rag on each other but never take it really personally <3 one day they'll get married for "tax purposes"

or maybe julia's gonna queerbait her audience for more attention lol. but then she'd be like "no, if i was gonna manipulate my hundreds of thousands of followers, i'd choose a hotter fake girlfriend." <- which is how you know her feelings are real because she decides on mk anyways #toxicyuri

"i am not fucking doing that"

"ugh whatever...i guess i'll just post a rainbow flag or something for pride month like usual"

also mk getting completely battered by t-shirts from everyone in the finale was funny

its ok girl mullets are in right now. it can be turned into a wolfcut later

priyaleb... the way people talked about them i thought it'd be worse LMAO they started off strong but i think it was started getting stale after their second break-up make-up

priya demanding vengeance was great and felt ic lmao but it lowkey made the otherwise really good finale hard to watch. poor caleb man

he really felt like a nothingburger after the secret was revealed... the writers did him dirty. they were cute when they were bonding at the start and he was oblivious to his own flirting, and was willing to be a little underhanded, but... sorry man

i think if they cut back on the romance and focused more on caleb's own morality/want to win it would've worked better, and maybe an earlier priya elimination?

they really just did the priyallie break up again but more drawn out and worse

actually maybe it would've been better if priya's feelings ended up being one sided

but rajbow was peak as always. their conflict about cheating in challenges was good and the finale was 1/3 raynebow trio moments so i'm well fed

wayne and then raj getting distracted by ice cream <3 bowie knowing to get them back on track by acting like their coach <3 raj gushing about it <3 everyone cheering for wayne and no one wanting to shoot him (except raj) <3 raj gleefully shooting wayne (and making a ur mom joke) because they're jerks to each other <3 raj going 🙄 "well guess who was wronggg" when bowie said wayne wouldn't want free t-shirts <3 bowie trying not to let wayne fall to his death while raj basically goes JUMP JUMP JUMP <3 raj helping wayne out of the hole and probably to a hospital <3

also i think the hockey bros somehow got dumber. they can do anything they put their non-existent minds to

raj stop taking your clothes off on international television

wayne is really invested in other people's relationships. he was SO happy that rajbow and priyaleb worked out but even he refused to get involved with chemma. and he was supportive of the concept of ripaxel at least!

also wayne winning WOOOOOOOO THAT'S MY BOY HE'S GOING TO COLLEGE PROBABLY ON AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP OR SOMETHING I KNOW HIS ASS IS NOT PASSING HIS CLASSES

wait he and raj have a tutor that takes their tests for them

WHY ARE YOU MAD ABOUT CHEATING WHEN

ok nevermind i don't even think they know that's cheating

[monsieuroverlord]

Hellverine #5 Thoughts:

That's the first story arc finished, and what a ride!

This issue, we got some sweet delicious Auraki angst, Akihiro reclaiming his autonomy, and character growth! Also, a helluva (no pun intended) lot of body horror for an American comic book, I gotta say. It's not even a red band book, either. So I'm both impressed and mildly grossed out.

Spoilers below:

Plot Summary:

We pick up where we left off last issue -- Akihiro is sent to Mephisto's domain, where the demon Bagra-Ghul is extracted out of him.

Naturally, Mephisto monologues his evil plan to subtly take control of mutantkind because, as the next stage of evolution, their power will help him take over the world and succeed as the ruler of hell on earth -- making his power limitless!

During this, Akihiro is all sorts of strung about and dismembered. Like I said, I am kinda impressed an American comic book got away with this much. At minimum, it's really pushing the envelope with just that teeny-tiny "Parental Advisory" warning on the cover.

Anyway, after giving Akihiro a "reminder of his place," Mephisto offers him a choice -- stay in hell or live on earth as his servant.

Akihiro considers his options:

(and we get some sweet, subtle Auraki :D )

Akihiro approaches Bagra-Ghul, and then dramatically scratches a sigil into his chest -- a lil something he picked up from Dr. Strange's giant-ass book.

That sigil was a possession cipher, allowing Akihiro to take control of Bagra-Ghul on his own terms!

A battle then ensues between Mephisto and the newly rejuvenated Akihiro/Bagra-Ghul hell-fueled warrior combo! Using his magical illusion tricks, Mephisto makes Akihiro think he switched places with Aurora, causing some serious fucking stress on my part, by the way:

(Christ almighty, was that necessary? But also, sweet, sweet angst)

Don't worry, it's not Aurora. It was Mephisto in disguise, who then yeets Akihiro back to earth -- specifically back to Genosha (Or I guess, Gigosha now?), the site of his drowning.

Aki then reflects on what transpired -- he won the battle, but not the war. Mephisto is wounded and in retreat, and no longer in control of Akihiro.

As Akihiro comes to, Project Hellfire shows up! Specifically Dr. Spivey (See the Hellverine mini from last year if you don't know what I'm talking about) and she says she's got special orders from the President himself to extract the Hellverine to face the Hell Hulk!

The end. Until next issue.

My thoughts:

So yeah, I did enjoy this issue quite a bit. It was a fun fight sequence albeit a little predictable, but fun! The omamori has not come in clutch yet, but there is still time.

I don't think I've touched enough on this, but I am really digging the inner monologue Percy writes for Akihiro. It's very nice being able to read his thoughts again. And I think it does a pretty good job at showcasing the character growth from Krakoa to present day, you know? I mean, at the very least, it does feel a lot more natural than the stark character shift we got when Akihiro joined Krakoa (and everything was magically "fixed" off panel), so I gotta commend Percy for that. It's not an easy thing to consolidate all these various facets of comic book history into one character while also trying to tell a fresh, new story.

I also really enjoyed the fact that we FINALLY touched on his relationship with Aurora! FINALLY!

Now, we need her for real. I miss her :(

I'm sincerely hoping she shows up by at least this 2nd arc or maybe right after. Now's a good time! Aki has control over the demon now. He's no one's puppet.

Also, listen. Listen, it would be fun to have her join up and appear regularly once things are relatively settled for Akihiro. She's a former nun. He's got whatever the current situation with Bagra-Ghul is. She's got pretty light powers. He's got hell vision (is that what we're calling it?) She's got speed. He's got hellfire. She's got the flight, while he's got the claws. They'd make for an unstoppable demon hunting team! Do you see my vision?!?? It'd be great. I'd buy 50 issues of just that.

Anyways.

This marks the end of the first arc, and the 2nd arc of the story kicks off the hunt for this new Hell Hulk. Based on information we have at the moment, We'll see at least the Hellfire Warriors/Destroyers and the Pentangle crew.

If you enjoyed it, and enjoy my summaries, please go buy the comic book. It needs all the support it can get, and also, I need it to run long enough to make all my little dreams come true. Please and thank you.

[officeobject]

Me talking about how easy it was for me to label myself (if you don't wanna hear about that, just don't read). Okay this ended up being a maybe incomprehensible random rant/talking, about my label:

I'm like "SHIT, which queer label am I, (romantically)?!" then remember I don't get crushes, so, like, whatever - everyone else has to deal with the confusion and questioning anyway, I don't like anyone - like I KNOW that aros can still have plenty of questioning and all, but for me, IT'S FECKING EASY MAN - do I get crushes? Whatever, feck that - and now I don't even have to worry about if I'd call myself straight, because like, straight for WHOM? Like, my labelling is just "do I want boyfriend in all honesty" - not anymore? Well okay, THIS label! SO fecking easy - like, sex is gross, add a few labels for that (apothiace anticarnal) - ooh, that one seems nifty too, add to cart (arolovic), and hey, romance is kinda gross sometimes (or maybe people just tend to be cringe), apothiaro, why the heck not?! Like, honestly - wait, does this seem like a crush? WHATEVER, I DON'T CARE: ARO! LEAVE ME ALONE! Like, yeah, I just feel like being aro - like I just kinda WANT to ... like, it just fits my lifestyle and personality better - like, yeah, I honestly just wanna be cool and be able to reject boys and be able to say I don't need anyone and that it's not a loss if no one has a crush on me - and it's not MY fault, that no boy my age is good enough! Like yeah I could date a pretty one, I'm feeling desperate and empty enough - BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT REQUIRES, TO DATE: DESPARATION AND MY EMPTY VOID - and also, I can't RESIST, the bragging rights - but don't expect me to be nice to my boyfriend - but don't expect me to not tell him - I am an HONEST person - and yeah I don't care if I ALLEGEDLY, had a crush on male characters as a kid - like, look, as a kid I wanted to become a DICTATOR, I did all kinds of shit as a kid - and also, I changed from when I was 12 - like I'm not 12 anymore - I'm not my expectation, I don't wanna go to clubs - and also, like, look, other people have more "confusing" labels, or whatever, that might make even LESS sense to you, why even care about me - also this one guy thought I was wrong about being aro because he thought I had a crush on him - I mean he also got literal FACTS wrong about my song parody, and also hated on me and armchair-diagnosed me, so like, mew - and then there's like "oh, what if you find the perfect guy" - well then I'll NOT date him, unless he agrees to all the terms and conditions, has a crush on me, and it's logical - and yes I can just do that - like, look, I don't give a SHIT, what my hormones you think I wouldn't be able to resist, say about how to live MY LIFE, and how to make ME happy - and like yes they impact me, but dude, I'm living with an addiction, AND The Void, I can HANDLE some guy I'd throw in the bin if I saw my 30 year old homie walk by out of embarrassment anyway. Conclusion: nah, I just wanna be aromantic.

[corvuscorona]

in related news I've been listening to the "homestuck made this world" podcast & really enjoying it for the Forums Guy Context it provides especially, but for whatever reason about 13 episodes in these dudes jump voluntarily off the "it's bad when fucked up things get written and the author doesn't unambiguously word-of-god condemn them" cliff & I genuinely do not understand what happened there.

they clearly understand that the trolls are all written schrodinger's bad-faith-wise on purpose. they understand the work's relationship with irony & ambiguous intentionality on a broad level. why did "aradia rips out the mind control chip a gross guy installed in her robot body, then does the thing he wanted her to do anyway" completely break their brains? how is it so difficult to understand the "would that be fucked up or what" principle suddenly.

I'm usually the first in line to launch Some Guy into the sun for writing about fucked up shit happening to women for no reason & like yeah yeah "this character has agency! see?? she did that on purpose" is not even slightly a defense, but the lens homestuck uses for that kind of thing is interesting to me & they are straight up refusing to engage. as a 16 year old or whatever, I thought that shit was siiiiick!! I cannot think of a single other Media that portrayed women being THAT insane THAT matter-of-factly in front of me in that general time period & it had EXTREME allure in the same way that, say, extremely dark fanfiction or roleplay did.

to tell me that writing it that way was blanket-policy incorrect without so much as acknowledging what might be considered badass about it by the little chuuni freaks and internet people the work is VERY OBVIOUSLY catering to on purpose constitutes not only cowardice but also a highly disappointing abandonment of ur self-appointed duty as Text Analyzers. so what is your podcast even about, then!!!

[cbsghostsmetasandtrevor]

Okay, so, maybe this is me overreacting, but am I the only one disturbed by the whole “Trevor thinks his cousin is hot” joke? Like, before this episode, I liked Trevor. He may have had this douchey finance bro persona, but he was also this complex, kind-hearted person (especially shown in the episodes with his death, his parents, and Escarghost for example). But then they go and make “being attracted to a family member” a part of his character?

Like I know Trevor is sleazy, but at least he drew the line in certain areas. And yeah, the show did joke about things like incest in the past with Hetty and Elias, which made me cringe back then too tbh, but at least then it was made clear that incest is wrong and that Hetty didn’t marry Elias out of love, but because she was forced to against her will. Trevor’s thing is just plain creepy and, unfortunately, ruins his character for me if I’m being honest.

I think you're overreacting to one line.

It was gross but I don't think that it was really IC. I think it was something that the writers thought was funny and creepy but it just doesnt really fit?

A nine year old thinks someone is hot? Little early for that isn't it?

I don't think the joke was well thought out.

I imagine a crush would have made more sense and crushes aren't always set by "oh I can't have a crush here because she's a cousin" especially not at 9 and he's just retroactively thinking that now because of the story he told.

You can think someone is attractive and not want to do them. Acknowledging that doesn't necessarily make you in the wrong. He hasn't been obsessing about her or lusting after her, he just acknowledged it and wanted to look her up.

Also, we don't know what level of cousins they were - first, second, third whatever. If they saw each other like once a year then they barely knew each other anyway.

Idk if it's because of other fandoms where this discussion has come up with people from other countries but there are some countries where marrying a second or third cousin is in the norm. There's like a percentage of DNA required for it to be incest.

Anyway, I thought it was gross but I don't think it ruins his character by any means. Especially if I still manage to like other characters for the things they've done and not just things they've said.

Trevor says a lot of things, doesn't mean that he actually does them. Also it's entirely possible he said that to deflect.

[tobiasdrake]

It's nice to get some non-gross Mikuru content. I haven't talked much about Mikuru because she's...

She's hard to talk about.

Mikuru bonding with, uh... with... the sister....

Does she have a name?

Anyways, Mikuru bonding with Kyonsis is cute. I wish I could like the Kyon/Mikuru ship. Which is to say, they get enough cute moments and development together that I would totally support this ship if the show didn't also have Kyon grossly indulging in Mikuru's harassment too.

...in general, a lot of the way the show handles Mikuru is gross. Like. They even brought in Future Mikuru at one point to wax nostalgic about Haruhi's harassment.

That's the kind of move a creator makes when they know they're being gross and want defensibility. "It's okay, she secretly likes it; She'll look back on it fondly some day."

I'm never really sure what to make of Mikuru because this isn't, like, a Male Gazey kind of show. It doesn't have the typical background noise of camera shots lingering on objectified body parts or slow panning over female bodies that typify shows made from the perspective of the Male Gaze.

Even things like the bunny girl outfits or Haruhi aggressively beginning to change while people are still in the room as a power play aren't dwelt on to the extent you'd expect from the Male Gaze.

But Mikuru feels like a character from one of those kinds of shows. The recurring joke is Haruhi physically bullying Mikuru, forcibly stripping her, making guys molest her, making her dress in various fetishized costumes, forcing her to eat expired shit from that guy's fridge they broke into, etc. - often to the point of leaving Mikuru in tears, and... that's it. That's the punchline. LOL Haruhi objectifies her body and treats her like shit.

This is one of three main things Mikuru does. The second is to form a Love Corner of

Haruhi -> Kyon (<-?) -> Mikuru

And honestly? Like 90% of the time, Kyon and Mikuru's interactions are great. But then he does shit like saving those erotic Mikuru photos he made Haruhi delete to a private folder for his personal perusal. Or says shit like this.

Or the show does shit like this.

Future Mikuru literally telling Kyon, "For compensation, feel free to make out with my past self while she's drugged!"

He does not. Thankfully. But it's so fucking weird that she even said that. Why would you write this dialogue?

And then her third thing is time travel. Which isn't given the same level of gravitas as Itsuki and Yuki. She can't fight the battles like they can. She can't exposit information like they can because everything's classified. She isn't even very good at time travel; It's explicitly brought up that Yuki's better at it.

Essentially, she has no powers or abilities beyond being present in the group so Kyon can ogle her and Haruhi can molest her.

If this were a big Male Gaze type of show, I'd be like, "Oh, yeah, she's the Fanservice Girl. Got it." But it's not. So I just. I don't understand why she's handled like this. Why is this here?

Which is what makes it nice when the show isn't doing that, and instead we get nice Mikuru content where she's being happy and everyone's treating her well.

Less of... whatever all of that is and more of this please. She's great with kids! She plays Go Fish!

Which she took second place in, by the way. Mikuru beat God at cards and entertained the small child while doing it. So HA!

[badgalsasuke]

The performative activism of Stans genuinely annoys and confuses me because how can they pretend to be some progressive feminists while body shaming Sakura or slut-shaming Hinata for having large breasts? Like, you guys do realize there are real reasons to dislike these girls; you don’t need to resort to such gross ignorance and hate speech over fictional characters. I promise you, Sakura is not worth resorting to bigotry.

Have you seen the “Sakura is commoner blood/trash” thing going around in the Hina fandom? It just rubs me the wrong way. Like, that’s weird, right? Talking up how ‘genetically perfect’ Hinata is and how Sasuke should be deeply ashamed for ‘ruining the Uchiha bloodline with commoner trash.’ I just can’t wrap my head around how wrong that sounds. I don’t understand stans. Like, this person is saying this sort of weird stuff while doing the performative activism all stans seem to do and brushing off literally any criticism of Hinata as sexism. But like? You’re extremely ignorant and have extremely concerning views that you’re expressing through Naruto characters?

Anyway, sorry for the weird rant. I genuinely am so confused by this phenomenon. They must see the hypocrisy, right? I remember a Hinata stan resorted to calling me fat because she couldn't use petty 'Hinata is better than Sakura' arguments against me since I don't like her, and she couldn't label me a misogynist. She completely ran out of ammunition and tried to body shame someone who literally hasn't posted their face or body, lmao.

hello anon!

I've seen the beef Hinata and Sakura stans have with each other (they look so stupid to outsiders lmao) and I understand where it comes from, they know their faves are mediocre so they're deeply insecure about it and always use half-assed arguments on why their mid fave is actually better than the other mid girl. And yeah, I'm aware of their pseudo-feminism they use to shield them from all and any criticism you can have and it's so stupid. I remember I was talking with someone on Tiktok about how Sakura is a very insecure woman and a Sakura stan interjected herself in the conversation attempting to make me see like a misogynist but it backfired on them because she was one of those stans that go "Studio Pierrot ruined Sakura! She's much better in the manga!" thinking I hadn't read the manga lol and when she found out I had and I even remembered the chapters that backed up my point she didn't know what else to say but "well, the only people that say that are haters! you're just a hater!" so stupid.

Sakura "ruining the Uchiha blood" is so fucked up LMFAO like yeah, her wearing the Uchiha crest does bring shame to the clan [LINK] but the blood quantums is just dumb and gives space to make the argument that Hinata is inbred if her blood is so pure and royal lol and tbh you can also use the same argument against Hinata ruining the Uzumaki blood with her ugly ass goblin-looking kids. And there lies the problem, you can use these shallow arguments and insults for both characters because you're not really saying shit, you're not analyzing, dissecting or criticizing the characters, you're just insulting characters because you want to hurt the person that's a fan of them because you know that they've made that character their identity and self-insert into them so they're gonna take the insults personally.

Neither fandom gives af about how female characters are represented in media, or about the misogyny in the writing and the fandom or whatever, they just want their fave to be sort of like the queen or the baddest because that way they can also be that by living vicariously through these fictional characters...