#yes i know he was proved wrong by the narrative

[colebegins]

i said this all in the tags of abigail’s post, but it was so long that i’m putting it in its own post

i completely understand where this breakup came from, and i am not upset with either of the characters involved in it. i appreciate the slight insight it gives into tommy’s lived experiences and his expectations, as well as the deep seated loneliness that he has alluded to in nearly every episode he has been in. the longing and the hope for connection and family and stability.

so yes, the breakup feels a bit self-sacrificial and self-destructive because he’s doing it now in an effort to protect his own heart. he thinks breaking things off now and dealing with that heartache now would be easier than waiting for it to ‘inevitably’ happen later when he is even more invested. and that makes sense!!! it does not come across, to me, as out of character at all. josh’s great speech even highlighted the scars that come along with queer people’s struggles (pre-glee) with themselves and with their relationships. there are so many experiences that could’ve left tommy scarred that would lead to this feeling that he cannot be buck’s last relationship. so this breakup, while it hurts, makes sense based on tommy’s reasonings, experiences, and conclusions he has come to.

but he also deserves for someone to prove him wrong.

my struggle with this breakup comes from the finality of the post-ep interviews. without the interviews, as a viewer who just saw the episode and is waiting for the next ones to come out without knowing any bts stuff or reading any articles, this would feel like a great path forward for buck to learn what he wants and to go for it — to fight for it.

buck discovering his bisexuality and being in a relationship with a man was never going to automatically solve all of buck’s issues with himself and with relationships, and specifically his place in relationships. but for the past 13 (?) episodes we have seen buck become more secure with himself and his space — the loft has had so many homey and cosy little decor changes, and it has been so interesting to see him feel more comfortable while making his place more comfortable. all of that makes the breakup feel sudden and unexpected, but that was the point. tommy surprised himself too, he even said so. they both felt comfortable and happy, but they also both have their own hangups. but also, they both actually want the same things. they both want love, stability, and mutual care, respect, and understanding. tommy thinks that buck will inevitably, accidentally, not maliciously, break his heart. and tommy does not think he can handle that, which i understand. buck has the opportunity to prove him wrong. but it seems (from interviews) that this is the last we will be seeing of tommy and their relationship.

now to take all of that, and have his next step be to just let this relationship go completely as he uses his old (self admitted) unhealthy coping strategies could be an interesting narrative arc to go down, but, for me, it would really only be worth it if he recognizes this old behavior coming back again, understanding where it’s coming from, and finds security in understanding what he wants. i want buck to feel happy, secure, safe, and loved. no matter who that is with — be it tommy, eddie, or some other person he happens to meet later. no matter who he is with, he is bisexual, and i will always be thankful that we have had this journey of self-discovery with him (which i hope we will continue to see ore development of — would also love if they would actually use the word ‘bisexual’ on the show). buck deserves to have growth and stability within himself and in his relationships, which is very clearly something he wants. he deserves to have that after eight seasons.

at the end of the day though, i will still feel upset for this end to tommy’s story, because he also deserves to feel happy, secure, safe, and loved. i hope he gets that one day. for now, that is what fan works are for.

[badly-drawn-pigeon]

Miguel did a lot of objectively bad things, but he still has my respect for being the only person to point out that basing your town's agriculture on some only briefly researched green goop that you found on a spaceship full of mutants might not be something you want to uncritically adopt

[deelavis]

I'm sure that some has talked about this before, but I have always been confused about Mello's reasoning for kidnapping Takada. I finished a read through of the Death Note manga recently and I FINALLY feel like I understand why. I'm going to break this down into 2 sections: Why he did it, and Did he intend to die?

Why he did it:

While I think it's meant to be kept somewhat vague for narrative purposes, the thing that I never understood fully was the wording in the scene:

Why specifically "his" name? Of course this line always made my little Meronia heart flutter, but before my manga read through I never quite understood it. If Near's plan to catch Kira went wrong, all of the SPK would die, not just Near. So why the emphasis on him? Especially if we are looking at a completely surface level reading of DN where Mello purely hates Near? But then I found this moment a few chapters earlier:

To summarize what is happening before and after these pages (Chapter 90), Near tells Light that there are 4 members of the SPK and that he is in Japan. He says they might meet soon. This is all coded language to challenge Light to an in person meeting. At this point Near admits that he doesn't have a concrete plan in place for confronting Light. But he knows they must meet Kira face to face and prove his identity by having a name written in the Death Note. This is prior to the SPK starting their investigation into Mikami. The part that stuck out to me was " When we meet Kira, the first person he'll write down is me, so..." To me this means that prior to finding Mikami and adding fake pages to the death note, Near planned to sacrifice himself to catch Kira if they didn't have any other options. This DIRECTLY correlates to Mello's line (read right to left):

Mello kidnapped Takada because he knew that if he didn't there was a good chance Near would die. This is literally the only reason that the text give us. Which leads me to our next part.

Did he intend to die?

While I've seen a lot of different takes on this, many of which I find very interesting, I now believe that yes, Mello kidnapped Takada with the intention to be killed by the death note. Here is my reasoning.

Mello knows better than anyone else investigating Kira how the death note works. Like L wanted to before his death, Mello used his time in the mafia to experiment with the rules of both the death note AND the shinigami eyes.

In the manga, Mello has one of the mafia members Kal Snydar (a.k.a. Jack Neylon) make a deal for the shinigami's eyes. Rod and Mello use Snydar's eyes to kill others for an extended period of time. This would give Mello at least a basic understanding of how they work; what face coverings inhibit the eyes, etc... And then after his encounter with Soichiro Yagami he becomes aware that there is always a chance that anyone associated with Kira could have the eyes. He also knows that Kira knows his name but not his face after the explosion. Meaning that he would know that the ONLY thing stopping Kira from killing him would be his face. Given that Mello never uses the death note himself but had other's use it for him, I believe that he also would theorize that Kira would do the same (such as X-Kira/Mikami, Misa, and Takada). Because of all of this he would be especially careful around anyone he knows has connections to Kira, such as Takada the spokesperson of Kira.

Moving on to the kidnapping. Mello wears a motorcycle helmet that appears to be tinted, but is clear enough to fully discern his face through. We know from previous instances that a dark tinted visor will block the shinigami's eyes from seeing your name, which most motorcycle helmets already have. Here is a comparison of a helmet used to block the face vs what Mello wore:

Mello specially chose one with a clear enough visor to see through. You could argue that he did this to show Halle who he was, allowing him to take Takada. However if this was his intention there were many other ways to make his identity clear to Halle without revealing his face. There is also the line on this page that intrigues me. "She's connected to Kira... Unless I do this..." The sentence structure implies that there is a direct consequence Mello envisions. Unless you do this...then what? Given everything else I have outlined above to me the implication is "Unless I do this then Near will die." You could argue that he’s thinking something like “Unless I do this then Near will win!” However, Mello has always been outspoken in his desire to be the one to catch Kira. If that’s what he was thinking wouldn’t it just say that? Whatever his reason is is something he can’t bring himself to say even in the privacy of his own brain.

If you were to argue that Mello didn't realize that his helmet was clear enough to see his face, this is then made moot when he takes it off in front of Takada. There was no reason for him to do this, in fact, there were a multitude of reasons not to. Even if Takada didn't have death note pages on her, Mello knows that if she escapes, Kira could easily ask her to write his name in the death note because she knows his face. You may then think "but why does Mello take precautions to not get followed and killed by Takada's men? He takes away and ships off anything that could be bugged and tracked including her clothing." This just further proves that he is trying to be killed specifically by the death note. The kidnapping is planned to a T, but he doesn't take the simplest precaution of concealing his face from one of Kira's biggest supporters.

So what was Mello’s plan? We know that Mello is someone who plans for a lot of different contingencies. We see this when he plants bombs through out his safe house in the event that he’s backed into a corner. Because of this I believe he had a few different plans. But no matter what his goal with kidnapping Takada is to force contact with Kira. In fact, Near thinks that Mello’s goal is to use Takada as bait.

What his exact plan was up in the air for me. He may have intended to be killed by her, thinking that she had access to a death note when kidnapped which would explain why he didn’t check her over before giving her the blanket to cover herself. He states that his intention of taking her clothes is to removing any tracers so her bodyguards didn’t find them. They make a deal that he will give her the blanket before taking off her underwear, where she’s hiding her pages of the death note.

Even if Mello didn’t know that you can used pages torn out of the death note, there are a few time in the series when a person hides a full death note under their clothes (Near being my favorite example). So it’s not out of the question that she could have had one tucked into the back of her underwear.

His plan also could have been to release her in some way so that she could get back to Kira and use the death note. Mello knows Kira has his name, now with Takada having seen his face Kira would have her write Mello’s name for him. Or it could have been that he intended to use her to draw Kira out and get killed by the death note in the process.

Going back to our first example from the manga, Near says "The fact that we replaced the pages in the notebook and the notebook happened to be a fake… I find it hard to believe that Mello thought that far ahead." I do agree with Near here. I don't think that Mello had figured out that the notebook was fake. But I do think that Mello could see that Near's plan had holes in it, and any mistake would result in Near getting killed. His solution was to be the name that was written in the book instead. You can argue in a lot of different ways why it was important to Mello that Near lives. Such as, Mello knew that with Near dead he didn't have any hope of catching Kira by himself with all of this resources and allies depleted. Or my favorite reason, despite his protests Mello deeply cares for Near and was willing to die if it meant Near would survive.

Please let me know any of your thoughts!

[jeonscatalyst]

Hey May do you think Jk acts different around Jimin when Tae is around? I've seen taekookers saying that you can always tell who the real couple is whenever Vminkook are together because Jk is always glued to Tae instead of Jimin and I also saw them talk about the fact that taekook mostly sat side by side on AYS.

Hey anon,

Yes I think Jk is different around Jimin when Tae is around. Jk and Jimin would obviously be different around each other when there is another person around. It could be Jin or Yoongi around them and they would still be different, them being different around each other has nothing to do with tae being there or not but just the fact that a third person will always change the dynamic of two. If we ever got a show with just tae and Jk their dynamic would be very different compared to when Jimin is around, that is completely normal.

The thing with taekookers is that they seem to have this belief that someone automatically becomes a jerk to their friends or is less nice to their friends when their lover is around and that is the narrative they have been trying to push. I saw this ridiculous thread on twitter a few days ago from a taekooker trying to show the difference in dynamics between taekook and Jikook when they are together and that post had over 4k likes even though it was filled with the most ridiculous things ever. Taekookers in my opinion are some of the most shallow, childish and inexperienced people ever because they lack the ability to look beyond the surface. As long as Jk or tae stare at each other, they see romance even if the next second they see Tae going away on his honeymoon, that wouldn’t matter because the honeymoon was set up by the company to cover up taekook’s real relationship. As long as Jk and Tae hold unto each other singing and dancing to a song at a concert they see romance even if moments later Jk is seen tongue kissing someone else, that person is a beard to cover taekook’s real and forbidden love. Taekookers would rather accuse every living thing on earth of trying to hide taekook than stopping to think that maybe they read things wrong.

I’ve seen them talk about seeing a difference between taekook and Jikook when vminkook are together, as a matter of fact that is something almost all the taekook blogs on tumblr believe in and talk about. They give examples like the HS concert in 2021, they talk about the Vminkook Vlive from 2021 and they have added AYS to the mix. Everytime I read the things they say and how they justify these points I am shocked at how shortsighted some people can be. I honestly don’t know if they really cannot see beyond the surface or if they just don’t want to look because they are afraid of what they might find or if they see but don’t want to accept it.

Let’s start with the HS concert. To them that was proof that taekook is real and Jikook isn’t because of the moment we saw of tae and Jk singing, holding hands and dancing to “falling”. There was that moment and another moment of taekook sharing drink or something and according to taekookers that was Jk and tae being glued the entire night nevermind the fact that we have footage of Jimin and Jungkook whispering to each other, sharing drinks, dancing together with Jimin’s hand over Jungkook, plus the fact that those two actually disappeared together for a while at the concert. Now, these examples of Jikook aren’t meant to prove that jikook is real either but just to show that Taekook weren’t glued all night as taekookers would like to believe but just because of those few moments they had of taekook’s interactions, they swore that the two were glued together all night and Jk didn’t even spare Jimin a glance. Now why do I say they are shortsighted? The Harry Styles concert happened on the 19th of November 2021 and then a little over a week later, we got the Vminkook Vlive (march 28th) and from this Vlive, we found out from Jimin that since they got to LA, he had been working out with Jungkook every single day, we also found out from Jimin that Jungkook was basically in his room almost all the time. Jimin said Jk visited his room about 3 times a day and that he saw Jungkook in his room way more than he saw the managers. Tae confirmed this story by telling us that he went to Jimin’s room one day and thought it was Jungkook’s because Jk was the one who answered Jimin’s door and greeted him. Mind you Jimin said Jungkook was in his room everyday and even came at night too when he was about to go to sleep, stayed there for 2-4 hours at a time and left. We also know that Jungkook was probably there every night because on the one night he didn’t go, Jimin asked why he didn’t come and he wouldn’t be asking this if Jk wasn’t a regular visitor to his room. Also, Tae thinking that Jimin’s room was Jk’s means that he didn’t even know Jk’s room. So which normal person thinks that taekook dancing together at a concert and you know, being friends proves they are dating when we know for a fact that at the same period, Tae didn’t know Jungkook’s hotel room, Jungkook was spending almost all his time in Jimin’s room and choosing to go to him repeatedly when he was lonely or bored? You see why I say taekookers are incredibly shortsighted? You don’t even have to think Jikooo are a couple but Jk clearly liked spending more private time with him that he did with Tae judging from the things they said. So how exactly could taekook be dating yet Jungkook prioritized being with Jimin over Tae? They focus on physical affection which in this case isn’t a sign of romance but of friendship, love and care and the they ignore facts because they facts shatter their fantasies. They watched the Vminkook Live and focused on 5 seconds of awkward eye contact and that to them was proof of the greatest romance but ignored everything that was said in that Live that completely debunked Taekook. Nevermind the fact that a few days after that Live, Tae attended Hobi’s live and mentioned that he had a meal with Jungkook and they had an adult conversation and Jk said he was happy. Anybody with a brain would understand that this is two people clearly catching up because it doesn’t seem like that is something they did often so after the concert Jk and Tae ate together, did some catching up and we saw Jk after he left Tae’s room still fully dressed with his combat boots on which means that he was just in tae’s room temporarily but when we saw tae a few moments later, he was already out of his concert clothes and had on more comfortable clothes you know, like he had already changed and settled in his bedroom unlike Jk who was clearly just passing by.

So let’s be serious anon, how exactly did the HS concert or the Vminkook Live show that taekook are the real couple when we know for a fact that Jk and Jimin were basically spending almost all of their time together while Tae didn’t know Jk’s hotel room? Before Tae started his Live wasn’t Jk busy eating chicken with Jimin while tae was eating alone? Tae had already showered by himself too while Jk and Jimin were talking about “we haven’t showered yet” lol. Taekookers never look beyond the surface and they don’t even realize that what they think is romance is just two people being friends and basically just dynamic.

They also think that AYS showed how real taekook is and when you ask them why, they tell you how Jk and Tae sat side by side or how Jk wanted Tae to get into the pool too or some other rubbish which proves that these people don’t have friends in real life. After watching Vminkook in AYS, I felt so validated about a post I made months ago describing Vminkook’s dynamic. Typical of taekookers to fail to look beyond the surface. Jk was seated next to Tae most of the time yet he spent the entire time interacting and talking with Jimin. How many times did taekook actually really talk to each other while seated side by side? Didn’t we all watch Jk and Jimin constantly interacting and talking while Tae’s head was buried in his phone the entire time? Let’s also talk about how taekookers claimed that “when Tae leaves the pool Jk leaves” forgetting that Jk chose to stay back with Jimin after they left the pool while Tae showered and went to bed. Jk did this on BOTH nights they were in Jeju btw. If he wanted to be stuck to Tae’s side like tkkrs claim, he would have gotten out of the pool, showered when tae was showering and gone to bed or atleast gone upstairs to be next to him while he was sleeping but that isn’t what he did. He got out of the pool, teased Jimin by locking the doors, knowing that he would have to stay back to open it for him while Tae went ahead to shower and go bed, he stayed back, played a little with Jimin, showered and they went to bed together on both nights so what exactly are taekookers talking about?

Anon, most taekookers, especially the ones here on tumblr swear they are body language experts and they can tell taekook is real because of how taekook’s bodies react to each other (lol) but ask them why Jk doesn’t seek tae out in moments of high emotions or why Jk didn’t immediately go to Tae’s room instead of Jimin’s and they pull out all the conspiracy theories under the sun. They say Jk always wanted to be by Tae’s side in AYS but ask them why Jk wasn’t rushing to his side at nights but choose to stay up playing with Jimin, showering at the same time as him and only going to bed together with him and see how fast they start contradicting themselves.

Anon, any unbiased person who watches AYS with Vminkook can very easily tell the difference between those three and no one would ever think there is anything going on between taekook. Taekookers harrassed and bullied so many unbiased reactors on youtube for seeing and mentioning how close they think Jikook are. You don’t need to be a shipper to see how clearly Jikook are different and how deeply they connect but I guess if you are someone who believes in how close people walk, or people’s sitting positions or people dancing together at concerts, then you might probably see what taekookers see. And this isn’t me saying that these things aren’t important, they are but the issue is you cannot depend only on your reading of people’s body language to prove a ship because first, body language cues could be subjective and could depend on so many things plus you cannot focus on your perception of things while ignoring all the hard facts. Jk and Tae stared at each other for 5 seconds, they are a couple/ there is attraction =Perception. Jk spends alot of time in Jimin’s room, so much that Tae once thought Jimin’s room was Jk’s, according to Jimin, Tae and Jungkook = Fact. While your perception could be wrong, facts can’t and if the fact isn’t wrong then your perception is wrong so that 5 second eye contact which you read as romance/ attraction, isn’t. If you thought taekook were a thing because you noticed that they look at each other in a certain way or they sit in a certain way, then you get to find out that in Jungkook’s free time, he mostly goes to spend time in another person’s room and also likes spending nights with this other person and basically spends almost all day with this person while Tae doesn’t even know his hotel room then doesn’t it make sense to just conclude that you must have read things wrong? But our neighbours would rather call Jimin and Tae liars before they sit to think that maybe, just maybe they read the cues all wrongs.

So anon, I do agree that when we see Vminkook together it is easy to see the difference between them and you can see it by watching them aswell as listening to the things they say. No reasonable person watches them, listens to the thing they say and comes out thinking “yea, taekook is the one” lol. That’s just ridiculous. When you actually watch them and listen to them, you actually get to understand just how complex human feelings and relationships are because so many people spend time arguing about who Jk is closer to when the truth is, he is close to Tae and Jimin in very different ways so you cannot even really compare but one thing that is clear and has always been clear is that of the two, his emotional bond with Jimin is deeper…unless someone wants to explain to me why in his moments of loneliness the one he thought of going to was Jimin even though he didnt do anything particularly interesting while he was in there with him… i’ll wait.

[bookishjules]

there's a specific paragraph in wottg that's been haunting me since i read it. and i can't keep putting off addressing it in fear of not having the right words to do so, so here we go..

from the lines highlighted in blue and yellow here, two very different stories seem to be being told.

on the one hand, in blue, we have percabeth as we have always known them--in sync. a well-oiled machine of a team that functions better together, drawing from each other's strengths and treating each other as equals. this is how their relationship is supposed to function. we know this from books full of moments when we got to see the development of their relationship, relying on and understanding each other more and more as the years pass by.

in theory, the yellow should support the claim of synchronicity the blue makes (and rightly so according to past books), and ostensibly that seems to be the case. percy as the narrator is just making a silly aside before realizing it doesn't work and shifting back to his original statement, right? but there's an implication here that within the team, the focus is annabeth. she's the only one who belongs there and there's no room for a p or a j or any amount of percy at all.

this doesn't line up with the blue statements at all, because in order for annabeth to be the more important member of the team, the two of them can't be equals, which throws off the balance, disallows synchronicity, and makes collaboration difficult at best. could you say, in a vacuum, that the intention here was what mattered and that the truth lies in that which we, the audience, have known to be true for years? yes, certainly. but the thing is, this paragraph does not exist in a vacuum, and in fact, of the two competing stories, i'm far more inclined to point to the yellow as a better representation of the book surrounding it and the representation of the unit that is percy and annabeth therein.

over and again in wottg we see the uncharacteristic, and pretty much unprecedented, imbalance in their team. from the narration, it's clear that percy holds himself at a lower standing than annabeth, but it's also clear from the story as a whole that annabeth is similarly inclined. percy not only believes he can't do as much as previous books told us he could, but his actions seem to prove that lack of maturity. he relies on annabeth more than he ever has, and not in a cute way. he looks to annabeth to solve all his problems because he doesn't trust himself, and annabeth is doing nothing to show him he should. she's surprised when he has good ideas, surprised when he comforts her, surprised when he does or says anything competent. and percy expects it. it's clear he's pretty much given up trying to solve problems etc., because even when he does manage to accomplish something without annabeth, she tells him he did it wrong or makes fun of him (and again, not in a cute way).

there are so many conversations that could be had here regarding blatant shifts in characterization that have little to do with trauma or codependency, but what i really want to point out is how this book, and the author who wrote it, really doesn't seem to understand or properly represent just how big of an effect these changes in the characters seem to be having on their relationship with one another. if a layman were to read wottg, i can't imagine they could read this paragraph and believe the lines in blue. because it's simply not true for this iteration of percy and annabeth.

just as it can be understood how well percy and annabeth worked together by being shown how much they respected and trusted one another throughout pjo, it must also be understood that the dramatic imbalance in authority and intelligence being shown in wottg hold a similar weight of truth, no matter what the narrative otherwise states, or how insistent it is in telling us that nothing has changed in percy and annabeth's relationship. just because the author wants it to be true, and wants his reader to believe what they are being told, does not erase the very real actions of the character throughout the book.

[evilbihan]

Might be the only one but honestly I wanted to hear what Bi Han had planned out for the future of the Lin Kuei. Let's hear the sexy iceman's ideas damn it, not just "Oh it's madness and evil", maybe they're good policies.

Bi-Han's plans for the Lin Kuei

You're definitely not the only one because I agree, they should have at least heard Bi-Han out on his ideas, because from what we know of his plans so far, they're anything but evil. In fact, they prove he's a smart visionary who has his clan's best interests at heart.

Beware of spoilers if you keep reading:

Bi-Han's version of the cyber initiative is nothing like the original from the old timeline. The Lin Kuei are not being turned into cyborgs against their will. They're wearing futuristic suits of armor designed by Sektor in combat and (people seem to often forget that) this is something they do willingly. The Lin Kuei support Bi-Han's ideas and visions. Can someone tell me what's so horrible and evil about a suit of armor created to protect the person on the inside and give them an advantage in battle? Bi-Han is literally just a good leader looking out for his people, not some tyrant or madman forcing his own ideals onto others, unlike Kuai Liang.

Yes, he was willing to ally with Shang Tsung and benefit off of the soul stealers, but his intentions were never evil. His methods are questionable and wrong at times, but all he wants is to make the Lin Kuei stronger, to have them take their rightful place among Earthrealm's nations and given that they've protected the realm for generations, I'd hardly say that's greedy or too much to ask for. He also only wants a part of Earthrealm, not to conquer all of it or even other realms. Bi-Han said that he has no interest in Outworld's throne. His actions are not inspired by madness, just by frustration and a deep sence of justice as well as a desire for freedom.

SPOILERS: According to datamined leaks, Liu Kang himself will admit that there's nothing wrong with Bi-Han's ambitions in the story dlc. Bi-Han's new policies for the Lin Kuei are good, we're only lead to believe they're evil because that is the lie Kuai Liang is trying to sell us and everyone else in the story. He falsly condemns Bi-Han's plans for the Lin Kuei's future as something vile and wrong, only because they conflict with his own beliefs and his obsession with tradition. Because Kuai Liang is Scorpion and we're supposed to root for him, a good amount of the audience buys into that false narrative. It's also worth mentioning that, while Bi-Han is willing to go to war to give the Lin Kuei a better future, he's trying to do so without sacrificing the lives of any Lin Kuei if it can be avoided. His efforts in trying to find a way to build an army of either magical soldiers or mechanical suits of armor shows that he's trying to protect his Lin Kuei, not shed their blood in pursuit of his own goals.

There's not that much known about what else Bi-Han's visions for his clan's future include, but we do know that he wants the Lin Kuei to be independent, strong and, preferrably, neutral. He also wants them to keep up with modern technology and to have their skills and strength be acknowledged by allies and foes alike.

Sub-Zero: You want peace? Let us be. Liu Kang: The Lin Kuei's sins aren't easily forgiven.

As we can see, Bi-Han is not particularly interested in a war. He wants the Lin Kuei to be left alone. Bi-Han is a good grandmaster and a good man and that's a hill I will all too happily die on.

[archiveofliterature]

i've always wondered why robin's outward statements about colonialism never bothered me the way it did others who felt the book was too on the nose and, while i think part of it is that i'm glad someone has the guts to say it out loud after years of denial, in terms of babel as a story and its characterisation of robin, i think i've got it

one big flaw of robin's is that he ignores things that are not said. he'll acknowledge them somewhat in his internal narrative and then immediately find reasons as to why he should not give it much thought

i've said these points before but to reiterate:

babel's theme of languages and violence allows us to explore the unsaid and the times in which violence actualises what is left unsaid

robin is being introduced to colonialism for the first time. we know so much about colonialism now because we are no longer in the height of it anymore (we are definitely still in a world of colonialism, see: palestine, capitalism, after-effects in third world countries), we have resources, the words and the experiences to prove the victors wrong. robin, in the 19th century, did not

yes, we and robin were shown that colonialism is bad through the events of the story and yes, it did take robin seeing canton again to see how bad it really got, but robin needed to say those things out loud for him to understand it, otherwise it would not be in character for him to do anything about it

and maybe you could argue that his arc could've been to acknowledge things that are not spoken about because they have equal importance, but why should they remain unspoken? in fact i think in combination of this flaw and of the language theme, robin stating that colonialism is bad displays that innate love and pain he has for his identity

to me, this did not feel like a jarring, 21st century-like statement – it was entirely in character and a reasonable conclusion for robin to have made at the point he reaches in the story

[departed-pronouns]

Was gonna just like - but oh gosh whoever did the tags, have to share for the tags.

i won’t budge from my opinion that buddie has a shot at going canon up until the very last episode, but that doesn’t mean i haven’t also accepted that i may be wrong because the showrunners could opt to never *officially* put them together romantically, hence getting scenes like buck falling asleep on the diaz couch and leaving it open to interpretation (for now). the amount of people going “this thing can’t possibly mean anything but buddie”…all the optimism in the world won’t make it true if it’s not in tim’s long term plans.

[thechargrey]

Something bothering me after s3.e4. Zava's right, a lot. The first thing the guy says is that gender is a social construct! Hell yeah!

We all expected to hate him, expected him to be a Jaimie s1, and then he barges in to the scene saying all this stuff that we agree with. This episode where he talks about how we should name ourselves feels a bit "yes, king."

Except that it's not.

Zava does not ask Van Damme why he's Zoreaux because he wants Van Damme to look deeper, he does it because he was corrected by Van Damme on his name. Zava was wrong, and rather than admit that and move on Zava constructed a narrative in which he was right by using ideology that we already agree with.

It's a distraction technique. It's a massively toxic trait that is most often used by narcissists. It becomes impossible to argue with someone doing this, because you agree fundamentally with what they're saying, and the moment that you do you've fallen into a trap where the narcissist does not have to change their behavior or recognize their wrongs.

This particular situation is a small one, but it hints at something much bigger. The fact that Zava couldn't admit he was wrong over a more minor thing is a big red flag to me. Zava said what he said to protect his hero/idol status, and because he is the kind of man that cannot admit to his mistakes.

This also isn't the first time. His introduction is him sitting at Rebecca's desk. Which is clearly very creepy, but when he's called to answer to why he's there he distracts us by saying "gender is a construct." When he first speaks to Ted he simultaneously says the things all coaches want to hear and what he really means. "I am an empty vessel filled with gold. I am a rock, mold me." He's claiming he'll listen to Ted, but also very clearly saying that he will do what he wants in the end. He simultaneously says Will is the most important person and insults him by saying he's 11. We're used to himbo characters and seeing the best in people, but that just makes it all the easier to be taken in.

The writers are clearly using Zava to illustrate a new type of toxic male character we haven't yet seen on the show as of yet. And they're simultaneously demonstrating just how convincing narcissists are. They're so easy to like because they say the right things. Many of the fans of the show like Zava, and that's on purpose.

And the writers have also already told us exactly what Zava's going to do.

When Zava is first mentioned, Rebecca and Higgins talk about how he switches teams constantly. Now that we know Zava's character it's easy to connect the dots as to why that is. The moment people on the team wise up to who Zava actually is and stop hero worshiping him is the moment Zava skips town. He doesn't care what kind of situation that leaves his team in, because he's only ever been on a team of 1.

So what we'll see is that Zava will continue to use progressive words to prove himself right while being steadily more wrong and offensive. At some point that will cross a line where the team can no longer ignore it, and it will break the illusion of what Zava's been doing the whole time for both the team and the audience. Zava will immediately leave Richmond. And bc this is a tv show it will be at a moment where Richmond needs him the most.

[da-janela-lateral]

MP100 S2E01 under a writer's perspective

The Emi Fukami episode in Mob Psycho 100 was a beautiful display of Mob's character development in relation to his individuality and a earnest vision of emotional vulnerability, but I want to call attention to a single detail: Emi being a writer.

Out of all the secret truths that the cast masks during the narrative, Emi's must be one of the most mundane. She is writing a book. She doesn't want people to know about it, much less read it, as Emi was led to believe this hobby of hers was embarassing.

I find it very interesting that Emi, character whose focus episode revolves around vulnerability, has writing has her main passion. In a way, writing is one of the most revealing art forms that there is. Literary choices are a reflection of the author's context, beliefs, likes and dislikes, fears and dreams, even though many of these choices cannot be perceived in a sensible level. Even if I suddenly decided to write a tale about a random theme - you say, a blue-footed booby who becomes an architect while wearing ballet shoes - it would say something about me. It could be a preferred text type, my sense of humor or even my idea of what is "random". Word choices, rhythm, figures of speech, themes, narrative structures, spins on a literary genre's expectations - all of these and more consist of conscious or unconscious decisions made by the writer. Writing as an art form serves as a mirror to the artist's very mind.

As a result, a piece of text can be a very delicate thing. Many people would only reveal their works to a exemplarily trusted someone, or to no one at all. That's the origin and end of uncountable masterpieces. It is also associated to passion. Few are the writers who characterize themselves as such and don't feel a duty to write. Yes, duty. Not all pieces are a labor of love, but it's almost universal that they're one of resolve, as little as it might be. One can unlock a fundamental will to write something in spite of it being weary work. At this point, for many writers, it's not a simple hobby. It's a need. It's a compulsory manner of expression hardwired onto our brains; thus, it's an inseparable part of who we are.

So what does any of this have to do with Emi's arc?

S2E01 is all about being vulnerable. Even though Emi had only asked out Mob because of a bet and hanged out with him for a week, she felt safe enough to show him her book. Her own friend group didn't have an idea that she was working on one, and once they discovered this, they ridiculed Emi's effort and teared it to shreds. Emi tried to alleviate this rejection by affirming she didn't care for her work, while everything shown previously on the episode proved this was wrong. In turn, Mob uses his psychic powers to put back her text together - his first public demonstration of them since he was a child. Mob was honest about himself by revealing he was an esper. Emi was honest by wanting his opinion on her book.

Emi is a fourteen year old girl going through a confusing and ever changing phase of her life. After doubting on Mob's emotions, she tells him that she too doesn't know well who she is, and her actions around her friends prove how she was prone to peer pressure. Her mind and identity were on an uncertain state, and this would also reflect on her writing. Emi uses complicated words, perhaps to make her writing sound more serious. Based on a translation of her work "Adventure", she uses more of a stream of consciousness prose and ambiguous descriptions. She immediately decides to write something different after her experiences with Mob. Emi has a personal style! She has techniques and topics she enjoys and active choices about how she will employ them! Emi has a bit of her on her story and this was why she hid it so much: a mockery of it would be synonym of a mockery of herself.

This is what makes the plotline with her book so important to express the episode's themes. Emi felt insecure to reveal such an integral part of herself to the world until someone came and not only took it seriously, but appreciated it enough to make an effort to understand it better. It tells a lot how Mob's demonstration of caring made her leave the people who destroyed her work.

As a writer, this detail gave a whole another layer of significance for the episode. I've felt Emi's struggle in a very intense level on the past. Storytelling is something so dear to me I can't see myself without the adjective of "writer", but the acknowledgement of my work would be the same as exposing myself to the world. It can be scary at times, to divulge something so sincere to others. However, such is the writer's role: divulging. For reasons long unknown a magical excess of words was born to me, and this coincidence can't be supressed and abandoned on the dark. There is something I can offer copiously hand in hand and its words. Words. Words. Words... And the reflection of me resonates on others.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Théoden rant incoming:

It is and always will be absolutely inexplicable to me that Tolkien makes Théoden a kindly and loving uncle and friend and king and ally but an apathetic and insensitive father who doesn’t seem to care about the death of his own son.

We aren’t there when Théoden is informed of Théodred’s death, so who knows how that went. But even if he grieved then, it is WEIRD that he basically never speaks of Théodred again or shows any emotion about him, even in scenarios where he’s directly prompted to.

When—only days after his death, mind you—they ride right through the place where Théodred was killed and buried, Théoden has no reaction. He laments the general loss of men in the battle but doesn’t acknowledge that his own son was among them, and he expresses no interest in looking on his son’s grave. Then they arrive at Isengard and Théoden says he wants to confront Saruman for having done him so much wrong and you think, “Yes! Finally! Tear that old wizard a new one for having murdered your only child!” But again he…doesn’t. He registers a number of righteous complaints (ravaging of the Westfold, killing and maiming of Háma, etc.) but not one of them is about Théodred. The murder of his son just days ago is absent entirely from Théoden’s list of grievances.

It’s not like Tolkien makes up for this silence by giving us ANY indication that Théoden is just too overcome by emotion to speak about Théodred. And it’s not like Tolkien just dropped the narrative thread and forgot about Théodred entirely, because Éomer brings him up (this is why we love Éomer) and reminds (!) Théoden that Saruman killed him. And yet Théoden still says and does nothing about it! So it was a CHOICE to make Théoden seem unfeeling and cold here. And I just don’t get it, because that’s obviously not what Tolkien was going for with the character over all. And it serves no narrative purpose. So why not just toss in a sentence or two to prove that Théoden isn’t a monster about his own son’s death???

(I've seen it suggested that Tolkien is trying to reflect Anglo-Saxon tradition--in which kings sometimes or often preferred their sisters' sons to their own sons because they knew for sure that the sisters' sons were blood relatives and couldn't always say the same of their own sons if they didn't trust their wives--but this...does not reflect any better on Théoden if it's true.)

Ok, rant over. Let’s all palate cleanse with the face of a father who actually did love his son and grieve his loss because PJ understood that this is IMPORTANT:

[mysticmilks]

Will and his feelings for Katherine

In this TED talk, I will argue that Will guessed or at least suspected that Katherine was his sister from the moment he met her, and hence there were no romantic feelings from his side.

[Lots of spoilers]

Yes, maybe it's obvious for everyone, but I still find it interesting to inspect how the narrative structure was keeping us intentionally in the dark both because of different POVs and because of the parts of the backstory that we get only way afterward.

The idea that there were any romantic feelings comes from two sources, Katherine's POV and Violet's. But when we look at the story from Will's perspective the meaning of his actions changes.

Let's start from the beginning.

Assumption 1: Some vague suspicions that he had siblings (backstory in Book 2, Elizabeth's POV)

Will was around 6-7 years old when Elizabeth was born. At that age, he would at least remember something, even if his mother never talked about the baby, even if she said that the child died or claimed that it never happened. Some memories, some half-forgotten moments must have stayed with him.

He knew for sure that his mother had a platitude of secrets, that she was afraid of something, and that she acted cautiously.

Assumption 2: Almost sure that he has/had sisters after his mother's death (Book 1, very close to the end, Will's POV )

Will is around 16, his mother is dying, covered in blood, murdered by unknown people. And she is talking nonsense. She is afraid of Will, so she attacks him, and she begs him not to hurt her girls.

Will was never stupid. And he had plenty of time to think about his mother's last words (and actions). And even though he wants to believe that she just didn't understand who he was, and what was going on, he is still our clever Will, and it's not that unbelievable, to at least suspect, that his mother really did have other children (girls), that she had to give up (and maybe that, somehow connected to her death).

He doesn't know if the girls are alive or where they are, but at that point, he must be almost sure that his mother had daughters.

Fact 1: Will knows both how his mother looks (obviously) and how Lady looks (Will's POV, Chapter 1)

Will is probably the only person alive, other than Devon and Sandy, who knows how Lady looks, and seeing her in the mirror he immediately recognizes that she has similarities to his late mother. 

Conclusion 1: When he saw Katherine for the first time he, for sure, noticed that she looked very similar to his mother and to Lady.

Once again, Will is smart, and seeing Katherin for the first time, he understands that she must be his sister.

He tries to find out if she has any other family members, asking her about her cousins.

When she reaches to his neck, he instinctively pulls away. The same way he wanted to pull away from Lady in the mirror. Because in both instances he thinks about his mother.

And at the end of their first meeting, he says that he was wrong, and he won't do whatever he planned.

Fact 2: When Katherine kisses him, Will pulls back

Will never initiate or encourage any intimacy. Probably because he didn't feel that way about her, but also because she is his sister.

She kissed him.

He tried to warn her and protect her because he promised his mom.

And Violet is the one who talks about love and kisses, while Will wants to say “It’s not what you think” because it's not. And it's not what we, readers, think because at that point Will (who's still not stupid) very much suspects that he is either Dark King's descendant or Dark King Reborn.

So my conclusion is that the feelings he has for Katherine are mixed but there is very little indication that he felt anything romantic or passionate toward her.

The whole point of this long post is an attempt to prove that Pacat is playing with our minds via POVs, vague dialogs, and a backstory that is revealed way too late. And if we can't trust the story in these small details, we also can't trust it in much bigger points such as Dark vs Light Sides, the role of the Collar, and the story of The Betrayer.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

For defend your blorbo:

First of all, yes Toji is hot af and between the arms and the abs I don’t even care he’s morally grey at best.

Second, when we first meet Toji, he has given up attempting to make a better life for himself and Megumi. Both his wife and second wife are dead, his attempts to distance himself from the Zenin clan has only resulted in him being brought back into the world of sorcerers (as a hitman but still this was a world that represents childhood abuse and rejection in the same way Maki was before she left the Zenins), and all he can do to survive is become a monster to prove he’s not useless like his family always told him. When we meet Toji, he is at rock bottom and doing his best to self-destruct while technically still living. He knows he can’t support either of his kids, and, while it will still be a shitty life, selling Megumi to the Zenins will give him a better life than he can provide (and addiction does a number on your brain, which makes some of the bad parenting choices make sense despite still being bad). At the end of the day, Toji is doing the best he can to protect Megumi from him, seen in his attempt to reach out to Gojo when he’s dying and when he stops himself from harming Megumi by killing himself, and he knows he’s doing a shit job but he doesn’t know how else to be a person. Toji has had to fight to survive his entire life, and he tried to be “normal” but circumstances won’t let him. So he becomes the villain we see in the first arc, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still deeply care for his family. He’s doomed by the system he was born into (and the narrative), and while he’ll never be a good guy, he is still deeply compelling…plus that scene where he’s spinning the chain/sword thing is so fucking hot, and I don’t even know how to handle it.

For context, they are responding to this post about Toji Fushiguro

He made all the wrong choices for all the right reasons or something

[the-ooftroop]

I'm glad HW2 seems to have finally debunked the Mimic = Glitchtrap/Burntrap theory. Idk why but I never liked Mimic replacing Afton, so I'm happy that's not the case. What do you think of that?

What's amazing is that I was seeing people claiming that Glitchmic was 100% confirmed before anyone had even finished the game. Then we actually reached the ending and I was absolutely lost on how *that* was what people got out of it.

With how much we know about Afton, how he uses people and how he acts, it's pretty obvious to me Glitchtrap was always him and is *still* him to his bitter end...(?) I'm not sure how people saw the PQ4 ending and went "Yes, vanny just squashed a branch of the Mimic! This was what we were building up to!" but something tells me that's probably why so many people think the ending was confusing.

I can't fault people for believing Glitchmic, it obviously has its evidence, but I can fault a handful of people within the community making it their mission to spread the idea its 100% confirmed every time they *think* some new piece of info proves it even when it doesn't.

This is a big thing that happened with Miketrap, too. People went "the cutscene confirms Michael is Springtrap!" Acted hostile to you if you didn't believe that, and would take any tiny new information as the ultimate confirmation. I saw today people scouring a SW dev's likes on Twitter as evidence for Glitchmic, which immediately reminded me of when people took a tweet from PJ Heywood where he tagged something about Michael with #SpringtrapSmell as evidence for Miketrap. Obviously we know how that ended up faring.

In general I hate when people try to pull the Miketrap comparison against people who believe Afton is Glitchtrap because it's obvious they don't know what the actual problem was with the Miketrap debate... it wasn't just that Miketrap was wrong, it was the absolute toxicity that spawned from people forcing it into the community's accepted narrative. Doesn't matter if Mike ended up as Springtrap or not. It was godawful.

Ultimately, I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch with the Afton/Mimic debate even if I *really* want to. It's still not confirmed either way and unfortunately we're probably gonna be stuck in this loop for a long time, assuming Scott or SW doesn't say anything about it.

I have many, many thoughts on the Glitchmic debate, but I've talked enough so I'll call it off here. Sorry for the long-winded answer!

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

"Come with me" by Alicent after b&c and well, basically everything, was such a disgusting way to put a final nail in the coffin of what once was, or could have been, a great character. I'm so tired of this useless and distasteful queerbaiting and the nonsensical ship that has been so detrimental to the story. And 'a son for a son' by Rhaenyra?? B**ch, what?! What about baby Jaehaerys? And why wouldn't Alicent mention him? No mention of Jaehaerys, but we got the cringe nail biting, what a peak character development. They must think they are so smart, Condal and Co. Anyway, almost everything was bad in the episode, but the Rhaenicent scene must be n01 of the horrors.

I would also like to make a brief comparison of the two character assassinations we saw this season, Alicent's and Aemond's. Both characters were indeed stripped of any significant and organic development and the result is the mess we've got. However, I think that the intentions weren't the same. With Alicent, I believe that these excuses of the writers wanted to depict it as her atonement, her regression to the only version of Alicent that in their minds, deserves sympathy, young Alicent who longs for Rhaenyra and seeks her approval . She is humiliated and constantly punished by the narrative so when she finally 'comes to her senses' and crawls back to Rhaenyra, she has a chance to ingratiate herself to the audience (and I've seen positive reactions to her in the finale on SM, so it wasn't entirely fruitless). Therefore, the writers actually in a way wanted to endear her to the GA and this was their way to do it. She is in the wrong and must be punished and ridiculed as long as she is the beacon of TG and as long as she doesn't ditch her sons for Rhaenyra, or, "to stop the bloodshed". With Aemond, it was more straightforward. They needed a one dimensional villain and they got him. They wanted to kill all the sympathies for his character and his popularity in s1 was in the way. Hence, all the idiotic changes and inventions regarding his character, and let's not forget the fact that he is one of the supposedly 'important players' who doesn't even have a POV. He needs to be boogeyman for tb and he is allowed to be badass and scary just enough to be a worthy opponent to Daemon so his victory (or whatever it was) at God's Eye doesn't fall flat, but he cannot in any way overshadow the rogue prince. And yes, in the finale he had less than 4 minutes of screentime which proves how Condal's gang sees his character, and also the utmost disrespect they treat him (and his fans) with. Once again, this clearly works because a considerable chunk of the fandom, and I'm sorry to say this, is braindead. It's apparently true that they wrote the show for the worst sort of Dany and Targ stans (and I like Dany and the Targaryens), people who go like 'yass, Queen,' 'slay, queen' , 'the Targaryens are the saviours of Westeros' etc. Daemon's vision and his and Rhaenyra scene proved this perfectly.

Sorry if this was too long. I know I sound angry, but this damn season wae such a torturous and nonsensical snoozefest that it irreparably soured this universe to me. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to read your thoughts wi thanks in advance.

Hello! Thank you for the ask and for the compliment!

First of all, I heartily agree with everything you said.

Condal&Co, apparently, really believe themselves to be oh so clever. GoT callbacks - you got them (overbearing and quite often confusing as heck but who cares). Scenes featuring mirroring, symblolism and whatnot (most of them with Alicent and Rhaenyra) - in abundance (dragged out and pointless - like Alicent swimming scene - but this is Cinema™️). Progressive feministic agenda - you are welcome (said agenda is actually degrading for women as it at the very best presents them as passive and lacking ambition and the will to act - plus it absolutely effing destroys multiple characters and their storylines). And HBO people apparently don't care - and they will not care until all this atrocity bites them in the ass in one way or another.

Alicent doesn't remember Jaehaerys having been murdered - but who does? Poor boy has been all but forgotten right after the show had Helaena announce that she should get over her grief because the smallfolk suffers more than she does. Besides, in the writers' eyes it's not Rhaenyra's fault anyway since she had nothing to do with it. And it's not actually Daemon's fault either since he was shown feeling sad about it for a couple of seconds. You know what, in fact the blame for Jaehaerys' death completely lies with TG: Aemond shouldn't have murdered Luke, Alicent and Criston shouldn't have been fucking, Aegon shouldn't have been drinking with his friends. So it really doesn't count. I have seen a post made by a (quite deranged) TB stan where they claimed that "many sons should die to avenge Luke because we are talking about Lucerys Velaryon". Whatever that even means, Condal and Hess apparently share this opinion.

As for Aemond and Alicent, I agree with you once again. In one of my previous answers I mentioned that the key word for Alicent's character assasination this season is "humiliation" and for Aemond's - "dehumanization". Well, that's literally it: one is shown to be completely miserable (the cause for that misery being her supporting the wrong side of the conflict) - plus she brings the same misery on her daughter's head; the other is left almost without any means for us to understand what he really thinks and feels. Ewan pours everything he has into his eye acting - and it can be seen in the few instances when we are allowed a couple of seconds to focus on his face - but the script staunchly continues hammering home the point of Aemond being a psycho with next to none emotional connection to his family.

Team Green characters had such a huge potential - together and separately - but the writers with their pro-Daenerys agenda (and hence pro-Rhaenyra one as the Black Queen is clearly their Dany 2.0) couldn't have that. There is some hope remaining for Aegon and Larys team up - but I don't trust the writers with them one bit.

[demigoddreamer]

I'm gonna say now as someone who did not watch the entirety of campaign 1(only an episode here and there) but knows what happens, I still enjoyed tlovm season 3. like yeah do I lack some of the joy and nostalgia of the og campaign, yes, and i understand that will affect my judgment but seeing as how season 1 and 2 was set up i understand some choices that were made.

I've seen people complain about ripley's backstory because "we don't need a villain redemption, she's not supposed to be a sympathetic villain" which I understand because they look at backstories through the lens of "sad backstories must make a character more likeable" but i don't think that's the case, i think ripley's backstory serves to give her more in common in percy and thus cement her place more securely as a narrative foil to percy, like this is what percy could've become without vox machina, they are so alike, smart inventors, ambitious, lost family but one chooses companionship and light while the other chooses chaos and destruction.

and yeah percy choosing to reach his hand out to anna might seem dumb but honestly it didn't surprise me. this entire time vex'ahlia has been asking percy to make sure his mind isn't clouded with vengeance. they keep hammering that he's changed and he wants to prove to vox machina that he's changed and that he's not being controlled by revenge. so him deciding to prove that vengenace isn't controlling him by offering ripley a chance was honestly, not surprising at all and it made total sense to me.

but this is just my take, and i could most definitely be wrong. I just wanna know if other people felt the same or if I was just being dumb.