#you need a more compelling reason than it's scary and big

[jonathanrook]

i'm sorry i know but the marmora trials kinda suck :/

[diserbillyti]

I actually think people who respond to institutional ableism by calling the person committing those acts "schizophrenic" or "retarded" are doing far, far more harm than good. Not just because the words hurt my fee fees. Consider:

Elon Musk does a Nazi salute, his fanboys claim it's because he's autistic, and the internet lurches toward pointing out, no, his behaviour cannot be explained by autism. The internet even spotlights some soc. med. accounts claiming to be autistic explaining how autism does not determine beliefs or explain his consistent pattern of behaviour before this event. The conversation ends. Excellent, no notes, exactly how this kind of thing needs to work out. There is no better conversation that can come from this situation on social media.

RFK Jr., current Secretary of Health and Human Services, has incredible institutional power. He can, will, and is affecting disability outcomes in real time. He says he believes autism is caused by vaccines and wastes an insane amount of money funding probably useless research identifying the "environmental causes," instead of building support services. He says that psychiatric medication, the kind that many schizophrenics essentially need to live, is addictive and harmful. He says he wants to round up all of the severely cognitively disabled people and put us in open-air prison "wellness farms" in a direct call to a bright, shiny, rainbow capitalist solarpunk chic return to institutionalization - he is thus threatening the direct abuse of compelled treatment laws.

This is, to be clear, one of the most serious threats to disabled people in recent American history. Someone who directly wants to harm us, and believes this will help us, has the wheel. This is how all of those scary Arkham Asylum health prisons you've seen in movies like Shutter Island and, uh, what's a movie tumblr's seen... probably Sucker Punch? Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula? anyway, this is how those "sanitariums" happened. The only distinction between this and Eugen Bleuler is that where Bleuler spoke like a fatalist, RFK Jr. and his supporters paint the exact same systems and fears with an optimistic brush by not precluding the concept that this might cure us, when we know it won't.

So how do people respond this time?

Well they see that RFK Jr. has a lot of radicalized, cult-like, conspiracy theorist beliefs, and because he believes things that are not true, they --

accuse him of being schizophrenic.

they say he's sick and needs help. he needs to be given the right meds. he needs to be in a padded cell.

this reinforces the idea that schizophrenics are nutso dangerous people who fundamentally lack the ability to have a say in our own treatment.

which is also, again, contrary to deinstitutionalization.

the very position one wants to have when opposing RFK Jr.'s institutionalist proposals.

This should be obvious because using the very diagnosis of people you allegedly want to defend (come on, no you don't, you think if it was just us specifically sent to those prisons that "at least normal people would be safer." i can see you, margaret - you care about cute level one autistic people only) as a slur is like... dude. Come on.

This is entry level basic "why can't I say the N word?" stuff. This is literally the most basic overt concept possible in any kind of understanding of human rights. You can't say the N word, or say that Jewish people will do anything for a dollar, or that womens' brains are smooth and fit only for the kitchen, for the same reason you shouldn't accuse RFK Jr. of being schizophrenic while defending the rights of schizophrenics:

because it dehumanizes people.

That's it. That should be the only standard necessary to shut your fucking mouth.

Before one commits to speech one must ensure their speech can pass through the five gates:

is it true? no. you don't know he's schizophrenic. you're just using a big word emotionally.

is it kind? no. you're attempting to vilify this man by calling him disabled.

is it beneficial? no. you're directly walking backwards by doing this.

is it necessary? i actually think that no able-bodied person's opinions about disability are strictly necessary, but more directly, would the world be the same if you simply did not call RFK Jr. a "schizo" on bluesky?

is it the right time? obviously fucking not, margaret. we're quite literally fighting for our lives here and you're in there like

[moonlitlex]

ok hello. legend of ruby sunday.

i literally can't believe how underwhelmed i am honestly. like i'm not even angry i'm just underwhelmed. i've been pointing to rtd being bad at payoff as a reason i was unenthusiastic for this episode, but this is bad even by his standards.

as that other post i reblogged said, the other first parts of the season finales rtd wrote were actually good STANDALONE episodes while legend of ruby sunday is like a 45 minute long exposition dump. the actual solutions used are kind of questionable but something like army of ghosts or stolen earth is compelling on its own without needing the full season of setup to go with it. legend of ruby sunday underdelivers on its own.

like ok payoff wise i'm only gonna address the decision to use sutekh as the big bad. it's a questionable decision backed up with bad writing. like really... you're gonna pick sutekh.... guy who was in ONE classic who serial? in which he functions perfectly fine by the way! but like.... him?? he's your choice?

and what do we really know about him from this episode? that he's evil? he brings death? you can say that about half the doctor who villains that exist in the first place except the rest of them also come with opportunity for interesting commentary like the being engineered for hatred and killing with the daleks. sutekh doesn't really have any of that. so he's a shallow bad guy.

what he does have that's sort of unique at least in nuwho is that he's a god, and we haven't really done too many god-type antagonists, so that may be novel. unfortunately, rtd already shot himself in the foot by using both the toymaker and maestro recently. it's not novel anymore. it's not new and crazy anymore.

and like, usually the doctor showing real fear actually meant something, but he's been doing that really often recently. he was scared in wild blue yonder, then in the giggle, then in the beatles episode, then in boom, and now he's scared again. this doesn't really help sutekh's case because it seems like all the doctor does nowadays is walk into situations that freak him out.

and what i think this does is make sutekh a particularly bad season antagonist, because nothing makes him special.

do you guys remember how rtd introduced some other season antagonists? in army of ghosts or doomsday (dont remember which one), ten walks into the room and sees the void ship and for once, even the doctor is freaked out by something! he never gets freaked out by things! it actually meant something. when he realizes it's the master in utopia he's kind of terrified and it works because moments of the doctor being scared are reserved for situations that are actually scary. in legend of ruby sunday, he gets scared again, but we don't have that full season of him being unflappable, partly because he just has more occasions of getting freaked out by things than usual and partly because it's just a shorter season and we've only had him for 7 episodes (pre this one) so he's had less opportunities to be delighted at being in some type of crisis situation

and like character wise? does anyone get any character development?

the doctor is basically the same person he's been so far, with the added element of oh he thought this woman was susan. but she's not. so he doesn't really get anything.

ruby wanted to find her mother and was upset she couldn't. which was already her character ever since she was introduced. so she doesn't get anything either.

and the rest of the characters are just doing what they need to to make the story progress or standing around in the scene. and like i don't need mel or kate to be more fleshed out really because i think they're fine. but rose? she already had no character and she still has no character, and also now she works for unit.

and rose noble brings me to donna and ten3. where the fuck are they? like genuinely where are they? it needs to at least be addressed... like are we to understand fifteen is fighting sutekh while ten3 is doing the dishes at the noble household? or did he just wink out of existence at some point between the giggle and now? like there should be at least something about that? and i don't really care if that's going to be addressed later because it's been bugging me in both of the present day episodes we've had this season and fixing it later isn't really going to do anything to fix my initial viewing experience

anyway. this episode was ass. as usual. i can't believe some of you are liking this season i feel like we're watching entirely different shows

[little-elf-wanders]

I'm also just going to preface that I rant about Solas a lot and I'm highly critical of him because he's apparently a character with a lot of power in how the rest of Thedas will survive or die. This doesn't mean I can't accept being wrong if I am, if he has a genuinely good plan he hasn't bothered to explain to anyone yet, I'll listen but so far... I'm not collecting breadcrumbs and calling it a cake.

I don't mean any of my posts to attack what you love, if you're a Solas lover/apologist, that's completely fine with me, I actually read and enjoy some of your takes about him. And you're all wildly talented. His character just rubs me the wrong way enough times that I just can't justify things away. That doesn't mean I entirely hate him. There are things I do enjoy about him, and that any character can illicit strong emotion in people isn't a bad thing to have. I'm truly hoping there's some secret I'm not in on, but I'm not hinging it all on being attracted to him, either. (I'm ace as fuck, which might be why I haven't been swept up in loving him. Because I know some - please read not all, majority of you have been very understanding -will defend him to the death simply because they love the romance. Or maybe they're hopeful and trying to find evidence to back it up. I just don't view him through rose tinted glasses and there's issues, he's a flawed character - none of this is a bad thing, it creates narrative, it's just the approach some fans take to it can be exhausting, on both sides.)

If it's been a big misunderstanding of Solas in general in Veilguard, I'll also be willing to accept that provided they give us more than 'trust me'. But as of now he's still a dick that isn't one all the time. And if he's an actual god, that explains why he's a dick. Though I believe it was said they weren't gods, their powers just came close. Which just means he's a very strong magister and thus, still a dick. A slightly less dicky version of the others but. STILL. There is substantial amounts to be critical about. And I will be.

This is just a PSA to say if you don't like me ranting about him, I'll make sure to have solas critical in the tags so you can blacklist it if seeing criticism of him upsets you, he's fictional at the end of the day so my rants don't mean I want to tear away your joy, just vent my own grievances in my own space. My intention isn't to upset anyone who loves his character. I have empathy for his character, it just... y'know. There's parts I wish could have been handled differently. Especially how we spoke to him because it was all, in my opinion, just ego stroking him. Which just isn't compelling to me nor what romance should be. (Though he was a late add to the romance roster so some things can't be helped.)

I know how serious people take this, which is the only reason I'm saying this now, and I'm only making this post just to make sure people understand criticism isn't hate or shitting on what you love - at least it's not intentional on my end. Because I have seen some feel like it's a personal attack. I'm saying it isn't for this blog. Love him to your hearts content, you could be right in the end. But you could also be wrong. My take is, regardless of what side you're on, you still cared enough to put in energy which isn't a wasted game or character, and it's enjoyable to see all the passion. But please also understand that being critical doesn't = scum of the earth wanting to kill your enthusiasm. And the fandom sometimes need to learn how to separate certain feelings when discussing subjects. I won't judge you for loving Solas or any other romance or character. But I will have my views of said fictional characters.

I'll make an active effort to be aware of how the criticism comes out. (This is just in case I have unintentionally upset anyone who's peeked in and thought I'm the worst because of it.) Fandom culture is just scary and my anxiety has been acting up because I know how loved of a character he is. Maybe this is a dumb post to make but. Can't be too careful. But also if you do want to discuss things, I'm always open to chat about it!

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary491

1/30-31/25

thursday - friday

after tomorrow the first month of the year will have ended,

for some reason this is more scary to me than a new year coming, the confirmation of the year almost? i dunno. it's silly. maybe it's got to do with how unpleasant the start has been on a broad scale, or... bad in some ways, ceasefire was secured in gaze this month right? i'm so emptyheaded at times, i can't truly recall. either way, that is a very good thing. i feel bad that i see all the stuff to donate but i really don't have any income anymore so i can't give how i used to. which wasn't like, that much, to begin with. i tried... i hope w/ the ceasefire it's not a forgotten thing, gaza. it doesn't seem like it but time will tell. time will also tell if israel honors the arrangement.

what's on right now, for me.

going out was a good move... i ate yummy tonkatsu, and a vegetable croquette. and some takoyaki. this is a win, we also went to something the local djs decided to do at a club, "drain night," which was actually an excuse to play anything newer or alternative happening in rap and some adjacent electronic stuff, snow strippers, mostly. they played yung lean, thaiboy, bladee, ecco2k, also, ofc, but sometimes lil b, other times carti, 2hollis, some stuff that must have come off soundcloud, it was cool, honestly, 2hollis is rag on a lot but he sounds very good through huge speakers. it was a nice time, we got there at 10, left at midnight... like #olds... cuz we kinda are. all the kids there were dressed one way, the typical way, you know. the zoomer big pants dark clothes way, one guy looked super post-carti, opium vampire type look, he was kind of endearing because he was there alone, just really there to vibe i think. he was cool. everyone was pretty nice. a girl there gave me a game recognize game sort of gesture, i think for semi obvious reasons... i will not elucidate. something about zoomers is so funny, or i guess other zoomers since i imagine i count, it's funny how from where i am i can feel all the trends etc. not in a looking down sort of way though it's bound to sound that way, just, like, a silly thing, but every time we go out, they're starting to wear different pants, it's not all oversized... they're into skinny jeans, some of them. we saw 3. one was in a leather jacket and looked like chandler from the hellp (when he passed by i said in a kind of airheaded voice "oh my gawwwwwwwwwd is that chandler from the hellp????? (enunciating all the question marks, in my way)). he was wearing aviator sunglasses inside. it probably sounds like all i did was people watch, and that's part of going out for sure, but i also like being around people, feeling whatever energy of the room, hopefully being compelled to dance, when the first snowstrippers song dropped in the set i was like "yes!!!!!!!" and jumped and moved a lot, i danced a lot the whole time we were there. one song came on that sucked. it was like, yes, i'm a massive slut. something like that. can i find it?

i figured it was her... she's kind of bad. pretty strange to throw in the mix. it's just kind of bad at being overly sexual. i think it would be random in the mix if it were ayesha erotica but it'd be much better i think:

at the end of the day i feel like she was always the best to do it, at this intensity, she kind of ups the ante of the nastiest electroclash acts even, going beyond like avenue d into total libidinal freakout territory, like, in a total sort of void-like need to be dealt with, it feels like deal with gets at it better than just 'fucked', she sort of goes beyond fucking the need to get fucked, it's like feeling stupid and ruled by something subterranean.

anyway, getting dressed i always want to be annoying, i sort of tried to dress against 'drainer' tonight, i guess cuz i really enjoy this turtleneck we have and don't wear it a lot, it reminds me of the san diego screamo scene a bit, w/ all the nerdy stuff they'd wear so i wanted to go whitebelt (wearing literal white belt also) locust-y sorta, here that is:

last 3 are after the party, i am sweaty and makeup was smeary but i thought somehow this all worked out to make me kind of cute. i think looking messy is sort of a good thing for me. the one where everything is more bright/orange is in the bathroom of the japanese restaurant, surprisingly good lighting in there.

here's some stuff i saw while out:

(cum car)

(ufo)

(people)

oh mygod, in the bathroom i saw a sticker for some band and i thought it looked funny and i took a pic, to look up when i got home, and it's like, acoustic pop punk, but it makes me feel so bad, it's something unique, it feels so out of time, i showed it to my friend and he said "he feels like a side character in a ryan higa video" and it's so accurate. it's making me feel so sad it's like sickening. when he talks about when his grandma kicked him out because he hated being at home, it's this, i don't know, i don't feel very nice saying 'failed' gesture but it's an incomplete or hamstrung gesture, caught up in this idea of a pop song, to express a feeling, but it's so sentimental but like, there's enough strangeness to the lyrics where it's more like looking at an open wound. it makes me think of dennis cooper, someone in his books that would die without very much investment. i know this is like insane and mean probably i just feel like someone needs to save this person, although he seems basically fine, it's like, this kind of emotional language has a feeling of fatality to it though, like a snake biting a guy to death and the guy not knowing:

maybe it just feels desperate. i dunno. i need to post better music now, to soothe this strange pain.

very nice riffing and synths, makesme want to write riffs, and play synths. but it's late, but maybe a little, as a treat. i did mess w/ a song today also, panned the guitars wider + got some better sound out of them. might pan them opposite directions tomorrow? we'll see, the right channel feels like it might be more suited to being a 'left' guitar in that song now.

i am up too late... because i wanted to do things with music. got stuck on making a song sound 'right' but i should really try and do drums and bass on it before i start trying to figure that out. let's do that tomorrow though.

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bloody-wonder]

A big problem with the way Nora handles the diversity is that it only matters in the story when the characters in question are getting called slurs or generally being victimised. Outside of that it has no influence.

Like when Laila (I get them mixed up too, so maybe not her, but Cat) gets called the n-word. When does her identity ever matter in the story outside of that? Because I can't remember a time it ever did.

If Nora doesn't have the time in the book to unpack what it would've been like for Laila in that time period properly, and truthfully I think it's okay if she doesn’t, then I think she should opt for it to not matter at all. In my opinion, it's better for it to not matter at all than for it to only matter when a character wants to be racist.

But then I would also then say there's the issue of nobody but the two main white characters having any depth. If Laila did have depth, I'd probably be more forgiving about this.

Even more so, it's not helped by the fact that the excuse for slurs in the original was often that it's accurate to the time period - which is true and, I think, fair. And while that is also true in the new book, she also doesn't stick to the time period fully in the new one like she did in the old. You can't have time period accuracy as a reason for slurs if you're okay with having group chats in the early 2000s.

i don't entirely agree with your first point: the diversity also comes to the fore when characters are cooking or eating traditional foods from their cultures as well as when they are speaking different languages. in the og trilogy the multilingualism is more so a plot-related contrivance but in jean's books each of the main characters beside jeremy has a native language that isn't english. even so, none of the languages beside french are really focused on. and as for the food idk this is my personal pet-peeve but due to having limited interest in culinary arts irl i also couldn't care less about what fictional characters cook or eat and i'm annoyed when authors try to use that as a character-building device. so when coach rhemann's husband, our token slavic character who otherwise entertained me by some lively dialogue, served jean the obligatory traditional dish it made me roll my eyes. stop overcompensating, nora😅

the slurs thing i would categorize not as a diversity writing issue but as a villains writing issue. the slurs and different flavors of bigotry are nora's way of having her bad guys kick a puppy in these new books. jeremy's conservative family are racists and homophobes so we hate them - no particular depth there. riko is also shown to have been a raging homophobe - it just makes sense, you know, on account of him being evil and all. except in the og books he and nathan didn't need to kick any queer puppies to be successfully and convincingly evil. i'm not posthumously defending riko lol i just think it was more compelling when problematic words used to be said by the characters we're generally meant to root for and the bad guys used to be more fucked up and scary. to come back to your point: i agree that nora's best option would be to forgo the bigotry and focus on other ways how to make her villains evil. (maybe even some plot-related ways who knows who's to say)

(lol this reminds me when i first read son nefes it was so jarring to see the f-word in the scene where nicky and the twinyards are first introduced to the team - not bc it's a problematic word but bc it's signaling a completely different level of discourse. like we were just fighting for our lives with murderous sociopathic mafiosi and now this? oh you sweet summer children😅).

and yes, as per the previous tgr diversity ask, i do think that the real issue is that poc characters in jean's books just aren't interesting enough / lack depth / however you want to put it. like, nicky is biracial. yes, his mexican identity isn't foregrounded much and yes, nora might have tapped into some problematic stereotypes - but despite all that nicky is undeniably a whole ass character. he has a function in the story, he influences the plot and the relationships around him, he has iconic lines and dedicated scenes. he's totally the comedic relief archetype but also i'm never in any danger of mixing him up with any other character - bc all of them are distinct and help each other stand out even more. i can't speak to how satisfactory this rep is but given a choice between a whole ass character like nicky and someone like laila who i can't tell apart from the rest but who does cook traditional foods, speak her language to her parents and get called slurs - aka the trifecta of poc rep written by a white author lol - i will always prefer the former.

totally agree with the last point. if we're in a trans inclusive 2000s sports au other utopian time period inconsistencies can be allowed. i would have preferred it the other way round tho. i enjoy the 2000s vibes of aftg and i don't like how the new books feel as if they take place in 2024. i want to escape into the distant past (2007) thank you very much

[thoughtsinadaydream]

The Spooktacular Halloween Movie Challenge: October 28, 2023

Five Nights at Freddy’s (October 27, 2023)

Desperate for a job so that he can keep custody of his little sister Abby, Mike Schmidt accepts a position as a security guard at an old animatronic pizzeria called Freddy Fastbear’s. It turns out the job isn’t as simple as it may have seemed. Can he keep his sister safe against the tide his new job brings?

Released only yesterday (theatrically; I believe streaming was two days ago) and available on Peacock, this long anticipated movie adaption of the video game is already getting some boos from the critics, but I expect that ratings will take an upswing as the audience puts their two cents in. I have only watched some let’s plays of the original and some adaptations of the game; I haven’t played it myself. That being said, I know enough to say they captured the spirit of the game pretty well. There are some shot for shot copies of some of the game’s jump scares, and of course, there are similar musical stings, Easter eggs, and a pizzeria matching the original layout pretty faithfully as far as I can tell. That’s all good news for people who were excited for its release because they loved the game.

What made me appreciate this film was the effort they did to put some more depth to the story. After all, you’re pretty much a faceless security protagonist in the original video game, listening to the history of the place through tapes and trying your best to stay alive in a struggle against unstable electricity and relentless monsters. Interesting for a game, not really interesting for a movie. Instead they gave Mike Schmidt a story, a pretty compelling reason to make the choices he does, and people to protect other than himself when things go awry.

You can probably tell that I liked it. The practical effects were great. Using puppetry instead of CGI gave it some realism, the music could be both haunting and fun depending on the circumstances, and I became pretty invested in not only the three main characters but the puppets too.

I should warn that it’s honestly not that scary, which seems to be why most of the critics were irritated, but to be honest, I don’t think it would have been appropriate if it was scarier or gorier. The makers probably knew their target audience, mostly kids up to 20s, maybe early 30s adults. No need to scar children for life who just wanted to watch such a huge pop culture icon adaption. And to be fair, the game is not gory either. It’s got jump scares, that’s pretty much it. Hard to be mad at a video game adaptation for keeping the same tone. I had a good time. It looks like a lot of people who are familiar with FNAF agree. Try it out if that sounds like fun to you.

**Edit: to be clear, critics are rating the movie pretty low, around 20-30%, but if you really dig into it, audience scores are hovering at around 90%. Pretty big schism to make early judgments on success**

[practically-an-x-man]

I've tried writing horror before and while I think I got some aspects down, I'd still like to ask. Do you have any advice on writing horror?

Ooooh, good question!

Once again, under the cut because this is for sure gonna be another long ramble:

So the first thing to consider is that horror is a massive genre, and there are a lot of ways it can take shape. You aren't going to write a gothic psychological thriller the same way you would an 80s-style slasher, they require completely different pacing and atmosphere. The first thing I'd recommend is figuring out what pace you need to set, and sticking to it.

Obviously there are a lot of different types of horror, and I could give you more specific pointers if you have a particular genre or theme in mind, but I think it boils down to two types: horror that is scary because of what you (the audience) see, and horror that is scary because of what the character sees.

The first type is more common in movies, since you're able to lay it all out on the screen. Since films are visual-focused, and only require the audience to pay attention to what they are physically seeing, it's much more common for a film to be scary because of what is on the screen. Examples would be The Babadook, The Thing, It Follows, A Quiet Place, American Werewolf in London, etc. - you see exactly what the threat is, and it looks scary, and that's where the fear comes in.

The second type is more common in books, since writing requires a level of reliance on the reader's imagination. You can describe your perfect horror monster in as much detail as possible, but if the audience isn't imaginative, it doesn't matter. If the reader of your book decides your monster looks like a big cartoon butterfly, you're never going to convince them otherwise. So more frequently, it relies on the character's reactions to what they experience, using emotions and experiences rather than sheer visuals to provide something scary. An example here would be Pet Sematary (the book) - we never actually see what is it that brings things back to life, all we get is a vague shadow in the woods, but we know through Louis' reactions to seeing it that this thing is very big and very unsettling.

Now, there are spillovers in both categories, of course. Movies like Bird Box and The Little Stranger don't ever show us the entities, just characters' reactions to them, and that works. And books like Jeff Vandermeer's works (Borne, Annihilation) have a lot of description into this strange, surreal world, and that works. I'm not trying to say that all horror movies are audience-focused and all horror books are character-focused. But I am saying that if you want to write a horror book, you want to write a character that the audience can connect with, since everything we see is through their eyes. Even with my earlier example of Annihilation, the descriptions are told through the biologist's experiences - we still view things through the character's eyes, but the character happens to have a perspective that allows her to describe what she sees in great detail.

So, all that to say... write a strong character to put your experiences through. Everything you write goes through that character. If the character is afraid, the audience is afraid. If the character is in pain, the audience is in pain. That's the crux of horror in writing. Movies can get by with terrifying visuals, but a book is only as good as its narrator.

My other piece of advice? Commit. If you have an idea, you commit to that idea. If you waver because you think an idea is too dark, or you think the audience won't like that, it'll show. A good idea done half-assed is still only half as compelling as a stupid idea done with full commitment. And since horror relies so heavily on tapping into the audience's emotions, they will know if there's not heart in what you're writing. I mean, the phrase "cult classic" exists for a reason.

Commit to the idea you have, tell the story the way you think it should be told. Do your research, treat sensitive topics with respect, the goal is not to be cruel to your readers (and being too explicit with it is often just seen as crass), but don't water down your story just for the sake of being marketable. Not every story needs a happy ending. Not every protagonist needs to make good choices, or even be a good person at all. Cliches are not necessarily bad, it's all in how you utilize them.

And lastly... write what you want to write, but I'd advise you not to overshoot. It may be tempting to get super ambitious with it, but if this is your first experience writing horror, try to start small and focus on individual scary moments or deep emotions before you try to introduce a whole larger world. Large-scale horror can definitely work (I'm gonna cite Annihilation again but it's a great example), but some of the most effective horror pieces work with an incredibly limited scope. Ex Machina has a three person cast, and 90% of it takes place in a single glass room. Late Night with the Devil, a new favorite of mine, is a single episode of a 70s talk show. SAW takes places in a bathroom. Misery is largely just two people in a single room. Having boundaries, in the setting and the characters, allows you to establish things quickly and move on to diving into the experiences and emotions of it all, which is what really becomes scary.

TL;DR: The audience sees everything through your protagonist, so focus on them. You don't need incredible detail to make something scary, you just need to express emotion. Commit to your ideas, don't half-ass what you write. And define yourself a clear boundary, tell a simple story well instead of getting lost in lofty ideas.

[oldkitty]

Ahsoka episodes 5 & 6 - thoughts. *Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers*

There is plenty to love about Ahsoka so far, but there is plenty I find frustrating. First the positives; it continues to look and feel expansive and it is beautifully shot. Rosario Dawson is sublime as our hero and the rest of the Rebels gang are fun to watch. Baylon, Shin and Elspeth never looked more villainous. The fight scenes are thrilling and the whole look of the show is immersive. This show is done with profound love and plenty of wonderful homages to other genres by its creators.

Now for my own personal frustrations. The show has for some reason not attempted to build any of the characters from scratch for the uninitiated, so I feel they - our heroes and villains - are bereft of urgency, passion and narrative, e.g. Hera will do everything - including risk her career and son to help Ahsoka. Why? Yes, yes, I know, watch Rebels and "once a rebel, always a rebel", but for someone not versed with her background, her sense of loyalty at all costs is not explained at all, i.e. there is no foundation to build on, you are just expected to accept this situation in good faith. It really feels like coming late into a theatre to watch a play mid way. You just about get who is who. You don't get a sense of why.

Episode 4 came the closest to scratching the surfaces of our heroes and villains, only for most of Episodes 5 & 6 to plaster over these scratches instead of digging deeper. Yes, there was the long drawn out live action Anakin and Clone wars dream/flashback sequences to give our hero the impetus to keep fighting, but for me it felt indulgent and slightly negligible solely because you do not see any conflict with Ahsoka prior. She is so self assured, so determined with her quest to find Thrawn I felt that even without Anakin giving her the support to choose to live, she would have resurrected and continued on regardless.

The show's greatest strength for me continues to be Sabine's prickly yet fond relationship with Ahsoka, because at least you get a sense of a friendship that is a little broken but not irredeemable , and with Sabine, I get a sense of personality, of conflict, of what drives her actions. She desperately wants to tap into the Force, she misses Ezra and she clearly has love and respect for Ahsoka, but there is resentment there. Instead of leaning into these potential kindle to a potentially explosive blast of self-realisation and character growth - we get a very linear quest to find Thrawn and Ezra - two motivations that elicit very little emotional investment. I only care because Sabine clearly loves and misses him.

Which brings me to the big bad of the show. Does Thrawn make THE convincing villain so far? I mean he looks great, acts with disdain with his most loyal followers and shows little regard for Baylon, Shin and the space whales. Plus he has a big bad ship with legions of troops and he relies on the scary red Witches. But are those enough to make him compelling? Does he make me fear for Sabine and Ahsoka's lives? Does he make me quake in my boots at what he could do to the rest of the galaxy?

There are two more episodes of this show. It will no doubt dazzle visually, and I hope they capture some passion and emotion, some impetus and inner conflict with our heroes and villains. Because the story progression is painfully superficial for me. It really needs to build a sense of urgency, a sense of dread, or just something - other than nostalgia for animated shows - that would make me genuinely root for our heroes while genuinely fear the villains in the here and now.

[v0idhaert]

thisss a million times this! The thing that people forget about the secret soulmates ordeal is that Grian chose BigB, but he did not choose to be paired with Scar. He made it clear from the beginning how he didn’t want to be with Scar. (Interjection: this is all c!s, and not hating on scarian also a valid ship just me rambling about how I like to interpret it and also it’s very grammatically incorrect and probably pretty repetitive because I didn’t really read through it lol) He was forced to team with him by their shared health, but the term “cheating” implies that Grian chose to be with Scar and then later went back on that. Secret Soulmates, meanwhile, was purely for Grian’s emotional benefit. They gave each other hearts and cookies and there was nothing in particular about the two of them that screamed alliance made for practical reasons. They were just kind of keeping each other company, BigB needing it because his soulmate was away so often that the guy had joined a singles support group, and Grian needing it because well if I write all my thoughts on why in this one sentence it’ll go on forever. Even from third life, Grian shows bias toward Bigb, commenting that if it comes down to it he doesn’t think he’ll be able to kill him even though Bigb is on the opposite side.

But back to my point about why I think Grian is lonely: in double life, Scar behaves with Grian the same way that he behaves with him in third life, where he was reckless and Grian just had to go along with whatever scar said because he was indebted. This in contrast to double life, where the soul bound puts each partner on equal standing, but Scar, probably without realizing, takes the lead, but Grian is no longer content to follow. Scar takes for granted that Grian will always follow him, hence the reason he seems more inclined towards petty vengeance than actual anger or even worry when he finds out about BigB. He is confident that Grian will always come back to him, which, when Grian doesn’t want to, makes things. Complicated. Really, he builds himself a panda reserve, Grian made it very clear that he’s not super fond of the pandas, but Scar is operating on how he knew Grian in third life, before Grian joined the south lands where equality (sometimes rather than equity even when thats not really good, but that’s it whole own shebang) was like their whole shtick, so he thinks that everything he builds for him is for both of them, because in the past he was in charge and had to take the lead. So Grian seeks out someone he wanted from the beginning of both that season and of the series who is, as prev stated, very calm. Scar wanders off to go do something dangerous expecting Grian to follow because that’s what he would have done in third life, but Grian is like okay, you go do that, and goes over to go do arts n’ crafts with BigB. BigB, also, has been constantly on the outside of groups and rarely having an alliance of his own because other people find him creepy or scary or unnerving, which is something he encourages, and even seems to enjoy, but Grian is usually the only one to not be scared off by BigB’s bigbness, like in secret life when he was like this base is scary but it’s also cool, hey is that your initial in the roof and he is literally the only one to notice that and Bigb is just so excited that someone noticed something about his base that wasn’t hey this place is terrifying. They just genuinely enjoy each other company. They can just be silly and definitely not bossy together and have fun! They, for all their fanon characterization, and actually probably one of the healthiest c!relationships in the whole series, because they actually like each other, chose each others company out of their own free will and for no other reason than their affection for the other, and are not toxicly codependent. Idk this is a pretty long and probably incoherent ramble, but I felt compelled because please for the love of all that is sculk someone put some biggri on ao3 that is literally anything other than cheating in scarian angst fics. Thank you prev for reminding me how much I love this pairing.

I know that Grian said “Bigb treated me right” just to get a rise out of Scar but I feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about how much (in my opinion) Grian and Bigb as a pairing are slept on

They both have this chaotic energy that feels complimentary, Grian’s pesky bird-ness and BigB’s whimsy. They both have this quiet rebellion or discontent against the games. BigB knows that it’s all for nothing and doesn’t play into the Watchers’ emotional manipulation, whereas Grian (up until wild life) tries to escape and fight the Watchers’ hold on him.

I feel like BigB’s calm energy is a sigh of relief for Grian. That he can trust someone, and be trusted, without it being another game. That he doesn’t need to constantly worry about survival, and can just enjoy existing. They just want to frolic in a meadow and have a nice picnic your honor

I feel like there’s so much more to this pairing beyond the secret soulmates thing and that their chemistry is actually reall nice! And have a lot of potential for AUs and fanfics!

[rivertapes]

Star Struck

Leo V. x Daughter of Ares!Reader

Warnings: Swearing

“She’s beautiful..”

“She’ll break your bones in an instant.”

Leo gave a glance towards Piper as she rolled her eyes, “She’s scary, doesn’t show much love to people.” Piper finishes her statement as you kick down a cabin member in a sword duel.

“I win!” You yell out as a set of hands clap in your achievement. Snapping back you see that it’s Leo, the child of Hephaestus. “Using the sword I made for good work I see!” You nod, he was the weird type. Not only that he would be the only one that cheered you on for your wins. It’s like he followed you everywhere.

…

As you were taking off your armor, you see the ray of chaos and follow him. The only reason why you knew of him was because he would show off the weapons he made for everyone here along with some of the other Hephaestus children. You liked some of the confidence he had, he wasn’t afraid to do a lot of things. Only thing that scared him was you yelling at him out of anger, but you didn’t know that.

“Hey Leo!” Yelling out to the kid he turns around, that goofy smile he had was plastered onto his face. You had no idea what you were doing, or why you were following him- but you were compelled to do so.

“Hello miss, how may I assist you?” You were two steps in front of him, closer than ever. You didn’t know what to say, “Uhm, is this armor good? I don’t think it really fits me?” Dear Gods you wanted to face smack yourself. He chuckled, “Maybe it’s a little to big for your shape, doesn’t look like it fits you- I’ll make a special pair for ya’, follow me.” He insists and takes your hand, you don’t complain.

…

“Ok spread out your arms..” you do as he says, he was basically measuring your waist and you were getting looks from the younger Hephaestus children. They looked about 9 to 12 and giggling, sending a quick glare they stop and get back to work.

“Alright Y/N, I’ll make one for you tomorrow- it’ll probably be done before dinner tomorrow!” He still had that goofy smile on, you didn’t know how to feel about it. Many at this camp feared you except for your cabin mates, but this guy?

He was blushing.

“Hey your face is red.” You state putting your leather jacket back on. Leo touches his face and feels the burn, “Oh that- yeah that just happens sometimes!” He states with his voice getting a little high, everyone knew that he was hiding something when his voice got high. You heard a thing or two from others around camp. “Alright if you say so…” you wave him a goodbye as Piper walks in.

…

“You didn’t say anything to her did you?” She sighed, Leo ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to tell her, she’s so mesmerizing sometimes I feel like I’ll ruin the moment.” He leaned back into his chair and looked at the measurements.

Piper saw his staring intensely at the paper, “It’s not gonna walk up and leave- if you want her to like it give it some nice touches around the sides.” Piper then grabbed his hand and they walked off to dinner like the others. ‘Nice designs huh…?’ Leo thought, he needed to make this something you’d love.

…

The next day you felt a certain someone was shooting glances at you. Looking across the main yard you see Leo in his workshop staring at you, using this to your advantage you send him a smirk and a small wave and go back to polishing your spear blade.

This drove the boy crazy, he loved the smile you sent to him. You never sent anyone a smile other than your cabin mates. After that you heard someone run across the main yard’s grass and stop in front of you. The shoes automatically said it was Leo.

“Hello Valdez,” you say standing up, “did my smile snatch you?” You place the spear over your shoulders. He couldn’t help but blush even more, Gods has he fallen head over heels for someone he barely talks to. You only finally spoke to him yesterday and you could tell that he was star struck. Oh you knew he liked you, this scrawny kid was in love with you.

“Oh I just- I need to check the measurements, they sort of feel right but I don’t really know if they are, oh plus the waist-” “They waist area doesn’t look right, does it?” you cut him off, he just nods a little fast in response. You laugh it off, “Ok measure me again.” Stating that you grab his hand and walk him back to the workshop.

…

“Ok I’m gonna need you to bring up your arms again…” he asks as you do what he says. You feel the string of tape go across your waist, but also a pair of hands on it as well. You couldn’t see him since you were facing behind him, but you could tell he was nervous. “Why are you nervous?” He didn’t say anything. You sigh in your head, he was either jabbering or not saying a thing.

“Alright so the measurements were-” “The same, huh?” You turn around and grab the paper out of his hands, the writing of the measurements match up as yesterdays. Pulling the paper down to see Leo, his face is red. Laughing you place the paper down and signal him to go outside the workplace with you. You grab your jacket as you exit the place and Leo quickly follows you, the other people in the shop were giggling- they knew how much Leo liked you, it was obvious and even to you.

…

You guys stood next to each other by a tree in the thick north woods. It was awkward for him but you were laughing inside, but not in a bad way.

“Why do you like me, out of all the other girls here? Aphrodite cabin has a lot of cute ladies.” You say quickly going from his side to standing in front of him. He stood in shock, “What do you mean all the other girls?” He knew he got caught in the act, “I mean yeah I like you and all but why would I stare at all those other girls?” He finally said it.

“Do you just like me, or do you love me?” You ask stepping forward a little, grabbing his arms lightly knowing your strength. He takes a deep breath, “I love you!” he yells out, “I could never look at another girl other than you; you’re strong, independent, hell the way you look is eye catching of course I was going to check your measurements again! Your touch makes me go bonkers and- and-”

Cutting him off you place a finger on his mouth. You giggle from him saying bonkers, it was hilarious. “Bonkers? Is that so?” Your smirk also drives him crazy, “oh my god, of course-” “Also my touch?” You say grazing your other hand up his arm to his shirt collar. He straightens his back, “…yes…” he answers hanging his head low. You pick up his head to look at you, and just like that you slowly give him a kiss on the lips.

He’s struck, you pull back and his eyes are widened. “Get over it Leo, it was just a small kiss-” he quickly pulls you in for another one, this one more passionate.

He can’t believe what he’s doing, but you started it with the first small peck. But you quickly realize that he’s good at it, he knew what to do. After a few seconds you pull back to see him red in the face. “Your face is red-” “So is yours.” He points to you with that smile he has, Gods he took your mind over.

“So, do you want to go on a date tomorrow? You know like around the camp and do fun activities since like Chiron won’t let us leave camp so I’ll try to make it nice for you-” You laugh cutting him off, “Yes I would love to..” you grab his hand and drag him back to camp. “Also you know you can keep your hand on my waist, I don’t mind if it’s you.” He nods understanding and you laugh again. Leo Valdez was the sweetest boy here.

“So about the armor…”

[Hope you guys liked this small one shot, hopefully it wasn’t bad!]

[babydin]

You're My Person

Pedro talks you through some relationship anxiety that has triggered from tabloid bullshit.

- Pedro Pascal x trans woman reader - 18+, preferred but no nsfw, all fluff. - Transphobia, body dysmorphia, anxiety . - 851 words - Comments/likes appreciated. Requests are open! - A/N: I ran a poll to see if I should post this and majority voted yes. I also meant to post this yesterday on TDOV but I passed tf out. I realize the subject of this oneshot can be heavy for a lot of people so please read with caution. Please know that you are valid and you are loved and you are safe with me.

“Unclench your jaw, tell me that’s wrong.”

“You’ve got a look.”    You look up at Pedro as he joins you on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, the curtains drawn in preparation for a late-night scary movie. Maybe he was right, maybe you did ‘have a look’, you had been sitting cradling your knees while he busied himself in the kitchen making popcorn, picking at your knees and staring into space.

“Unclench your jaw, tell me that’s wrong.”

Pedro had a way of speaking that was so attentive, every word he said, the way his eyes looked at you; a car could’ve driven through the house and he wouldn’t have taken his eyes off you if you were still talking. You weren’t going to say anything to him about your sour mood, but he had a way of noticing the little things. You start to pick at the skin around your thumbs and tell him “Someone saw us today.” He took one of your hands to stop you from picking at yourself and offered his own hand as a fidget which you gladly took, fussing with his fingers, sizing up his palms in comparison to your own. “I’m sure a lot of people saw us today, amorcita. What happened?” “There was a post on Twitter–” The mention of the word made him grunt disapprovingly. “It was a pap’ shot and a link to an article. I’ve never been photographed with you before so I–” He almost wanted to interrupt you and you could see it on his face, but he allowed you to continue despite his personal issues with Twitter.

Your thoughts drifted for a moment and another one came in as you considered the words that were in the article. They focused heavily on your looks, on your body, they’d even gone to so much trouble to find out you were transgender and what your deadname was; it was like reading your own unauthorized autobiography with some unintentionally transphobic click-bait headline along the lines of ‘Who is this on Mando’s arm? Not who you’d expect. Click to find out!’ “Do you ever wish I was someone else?” Pedro’s brow creased, “I don’t follow.” A breath catches in your throat and you hug your knees a little tighter with one arm while the other still holds Pedro’s hand, afraid of his answer to your next question, “Do you ever wish I had a woman’s body? Like do you ever want me to–” He had already started a string of no’s and shushing, his grip tightened on your hand and he leaned forward to set the bowl of popcorn down, because such a conversation needed both his hands free. “Don’t even finish that sentence. I won’t let you. I won’t… let you.” You let out that breath on a sigh. “I love you. And you are so much more than your body. Okay? You are a beautiful mind, and a generous heart, and a soul so big it can barely be contained in a human vessel.” He pulled your hand towards his lips and kissed the tips of your fingers. “If you want to change it should be for yourself… not for me, certainly not for some toxic TMZ horsepiss.” You didn’t know how you were so lucky to land this man, the man with the biggest heart and the kindest words who had so much love and appreciation for everyone he met until they gave him a reason not to. You had had the longest conversation with his little sister Lux when you had first met her, and you had been so enamoured by her and her journey that you felt compelled to come out to her the moment you were alone together. She had talked for hours about how supportive Pedro had been during her transition and now you were seeing it in real time. “If you want to change anything about yourself,” he carried on, “I will stand by you, I’ll love you, I’ll nurse you. If you are happy with yourself now, then I’m happy too. But I don’t ever wish for you to look different or sound different or feel different… The only thing, the only thing, I would change about you is how other people’s perception of you makes you feel. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. I recognize that I cannot relate to the struggles you have being transgender, because I am not, so this probably sounds disingenuous but please don’t feel like you need to change for me. Please. I’d never forgive myself.” If you did have any doubts, they had been melted away by his attentive words and his hands caressing you like you were so precious. “You are so dear to me.” you told him, not wanting to scare him with the L word because you knew if he heard it too many times in such a short space of time he got itchy and started to panic. He smiled a smile that seemed to be just for you and pulled you into his chest to hold you there for the rest of the night.

[yukidragon]

Don’t you think Jack’s requirements to “never do what you don’t want him to” makes Jack quire the unique yandere? He practically operates on genie rules. Unlike other Yanderes who have quite a lot of freedom to just up and kidnap and tie up their lovers in a room, Jack can’t do those things. He’ll definitely have to be smart and cunning to resort to other methods to bypass those rules in order to “take care” of his obstacles.

Jack’s limitations and personality are what draw me to him the most, and his lore is fun to play with.

Honestly, I’ve had mixed feelings about the yandere genre for a long time. I could get the appeal in the fantasy of the obsessiveness, but the lack of consent was always a huge turnoff for me.

I’ve loved horror fiction since I was little, but not when it would go past my comfort zone. While have expanded that comfort zone to accept darker concepts, one thing that is rigidly a hard no for me is sexual violence and non-consent.

The fact that non-consent is romanticized in a lot of “romance” stories makes me really uncomfortable. It’s not treated like the awful horror that it is, or how damaging it is to a person.

I understand, on paper, why the fantasy of non-consent is appealing, but it’s not for me. The fact that non-consent is so heavily tied to yandere romance is why I never really got into the genre until Sunny Day Jack.

Sex and horror are treated as two separate aspects of SDJ. There’s a comfort in that, knowing Jack not only doesn’t want to force MC to do something they don’t want to do, he can’t.

Unlike a lot of other yandere characters who sneak into the MC’s room at night and commit SA in their sleep or kidnap them and threaten bodily harm if they don’t give in sexually... A big selling point of the game is that Jack is not going to do anything like that to the MC.

In fact, the demo is being edited to make that point clearer that everything sexual related to him is entirely consenting on the part of both Jack and MC. There’s even going to be a softcore mode for those who don’t want sex in the story at all.

I just adore how Snaccpop Studios is keeping the comfort of its players in mind. It’s one of the reasons why I am such a huge supporter of theirs.

Jack is a morally gray character. His manipulative behaviors are still wrong, and he’s still doing some horrifying things... but none of it will involve SA. I find a great comfort in that, and it’s allowed me to indulge in his story in a way that I haven’t with other yandere stories.

Plus, it makes Jack far more interesting that he needs to solve his problems through intelligence and charisma rather than through brute force. It keeps him as an intimidating and even scary antagonist, but it makes him even more compelling to consider what makes him tick and how he’ll work within the limitations given to him.

Sometimes, it’s the limitations that turn something into a great work of art.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars

[aspoonofsugar]

Trust in RWBY

We have seen our protagonists going from questioning the adults around them:

Ruby: This is a lot to take in and it all sounds crazy, but... I’m willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn’t you trust me?

To asking to be trusted and treated as equals:

Qrow: Ruby stop.

Ruby: I need you to trust me.

To finally being the ones that have to choose if to trust:

Ruby: I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if I'm no different from Oz.

It has been a compelling journey that has marked some important steps in the characters’ growth and has led to a specific understanding of the theme of trust:

Weiss: Trust is a risk.

Let’s see what this means under the cut.

OZPIN AND DISTRUST

Ozpin: I’m not saying I have reason to think you’ll betray me. I’m saying I have reasons for the things I do, the secrets I keep.

Ozpin embodies distrust. By this I do not mean he is malicious or has bad intentions, but simply that he lacks the ability to trust.

Ozpin explains it himself in the quote above. He doesn’t think RWBY wants to betray him, but he does not trust them to be strong enough to accept the truth about the battle they are fighting.

Ozpin’s behaviour is actually rational and even realistic. He has gone through many lives and he has been betrayed multiple times. He has also seen good people either die or lose to their worst fears and instincts.

So, he has chosen not to trust because it is the least risky option. It is less risky from a practical point of view:

Ozpin: I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option.

But also from a psychological one:

Ozpin: Do you really think Leo was the first?! That he didn’t say those exact same words to me?

Still, this approach ends up damaging Ozpin instead than helping him. This is because it leads the group to discover about Salem in a bad moment and in a bad way. As a result, they all find themselves in danger and all trust is lost between Ozpin and the group.

Ozpin refusing to take the risk to trust creates a conflict that could have been avoided. This is made even more poignant by the fact that Ozpin’s fear about the protagonists abandoning the mission is proven wrong:

Weiss: I’m sorry... for what I said...about giving up.

Yang: Me too. We can’t quit until the lamp is safe.

Sure, the kids struggle, but in the end they all choose to keep fighting despite the frightening stakes.

In other words, Ozpin keeps saying this:

Ozpin: Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave now is the time. There is no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat.

But he doesn’t give all the knowledge to make an informed choice hence why he acts hypocritically:

Ruby: So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?

In the end, despite Ozpin being right about the necessity not to lose to fear, he himself has become a victim of it:

Ozpin: The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet... is fear. It's funny then, that as common as fear is... we so easily underestimate its power.

This is because trusting others is ultimately scary. So, is there a way to avoid this fear? Is there a way to trust that is not dangerous?

RUBY AND CONDITIONAL TRUST

Qrow: Ruby, Oz only trusted himself with the whole truth. You’re trusting others, but you’re making sure they prove themselves first. I think that’s a pretty big difference.

In Atlas, Ruby chooses not to tell Ironwood the whole truth and her behaviour is compared to Ozpin’s. However, her approach is actually slightly different.

Ozpin has no intention to share the truth with anyone. He himself states as much. He has no reason not to trust RWBY, Qrow, Oscar and JNR. They have accepted to help him and have been fighting bravely for him. Still, Ozpin has no intention to fully trust them out of fear of a future betrayal or of them being too weak to shoulder the truth.

Ruby instead wants to tell Ironwood:

Ruby: We are. We will. But you saw how things looked when we flew into Atlas.

Still, she wants him to prove himself trustworthy first. So, she approaches the idea of trust in a conditional way. She is only trusting Ironwood if he shows he can overcome his most worrysome tendencies, like his paranoia and need of control.

It seems rational, right? It is a way to trust others with no risk. It is an attempt to have both “trust” and “safety”.

And yet it fails badly for two reasons.

a) Even if Ruby’s approach is different from Ozpin’s, it suffers from its same problems:

Ozpin: Please, now is not the time.

Yang: No, we're past that! I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!

Weiss: None of this matters right now!

Ironwood: Loyalty always matters!

Nobody likes to have important pieces of information hidden from them, especially when they are putting much on the line and think they can count on you:

Ruby: I thought… you said we could keep it.

Ironwood: Well, that was before you lied to me about the Lamp. Before you lied to us about Robyn, before Salem was right on our doorstep.

b) Ruby spends volume 7 trying to understand if she can trust Ironwood or not. In the end Ironwood makes some steps in the right direction:

Ruby: He’s doing it.

So, Ruby chooses to trust him with the truth... only for everything to go bad immediately after.

Why does it happen?

The point is not that Ruby was right in not trusting Ironwood or that if she had immediately told him the truth things might have turned out differently. The point is that Ruby thinks she can reach a point where she can trust with no risk, but she is proven wrong. There is not something like trust without risk because every person is different and has different strengths, weaknesses and thoughts.

This means there will be times when people will disagree about important matters:

Yang: Ruby... when we came here, we said we’d follow your lead...but... things haven’t exactly worked out.

And even times when they will let you down:

Ruby: But sadly, General Ironwood can no longer be trusted.

If you want to trust others, you must accept this reality because not doing so is actually even more dangerous.

IRONWOOD AND CONTROL

Ironwood: Ozpin believed the best way to fight Salem was to do so in secret. Whether that was the right choice or not isn't for me to say. But we find ourselves in a position of needing, well, a new approach.

Ironwood’s new approach is about using Amity Colosseum to tell the world about Salem. So, while Ozpin doesn’t want to tell anyone, Ironwood wants to tell everyone.

Still, is his approach rooted in unconditional trust?

The answer is no. Ironwood’s approach in volume 7 is on paper very similar to Ruby’s:

Qrow: Huh, so that's why you withdrew your troops, to handle the panic that would break out in Atlas.

Ironwood wants to genuinely trust, but, just like Ruby, he wants to do so only when some conditions are met. When it is safe. When he is in control.

Unluckily, this pursue of safety and control leads him to take many unpopular decisions until the situation spirals more and more and Ironwood is forced to make a choice:

Oscar: The panic you were worried about? It's already happening. The secrets you're keeping? They're about to be in the open anyway. It's time. Tell the truth.

Does he open up? Does he trust? Or does he keep his secrets?

Ironwood chooses to trust. He tells Robyn and the Council the truth and later on he works with Robyn in order to stop Watts and Tyrian. He even discloses important information about Amity, so that he can lure Watts out.

He takes some risks and he catches both Watts and Tyrian and solves his conflict with the Council and Robyn.

So, everything goes well, right? Except for one little miscalculation:

Ironwood reacts to this miscalculation with anger and paranoia:

Ironwood: We have made a critical error.

Moreover, he starts second-guessing his choice to open up. What if it is all just a trick? What if he is playing into Salem’s hands?

The point is not if he is right or wrong. The point is that if you want to open up and to trust others, this is the price to pay. This is the risk to take. Not everything will go exactly as planned. You won’t control everyone. Ironwood is unable to accept it. He psychologically needs to have everything and everyone under control.

Gravity is not about Ironwood losing it for no reason and starting to act dumb. It is about Ironwood showing the viewers that he is unable to trust and that everything that he has been presenting as trust is actually just control:

He tells Winter and Penny the truth not because he trusts them, but because he thinks he can control them:

Ironwood: Penny is completely under my control.

Weiss: Doesn't it bother you? He practically groomed your entire military career.

Ironwood doesn’t do so consciously or maliciously. When he tells Winter, Penny and the Ace Ops and when the protagonists arrive in Atlas he is honest. He is really trying to trust and to open up. The problem is that for him “trust” means “you are going to agree with me on everything and are going to do what I tell you”.

This is well shown by his reaction to Blake and Yang telling Robyn about Amity Colosseum:

Ironwood: Are you with me? How did Robyn know about the Global Communications Project?

There are two reasons why this reaction is thematically wrong.

a) Yang and Blake telling Robyn works out in Ironwood’s favor, but he still gets angry and this is his reasoning:

Yang: Robyn is on our side! She always has been.

Ironwood: We didn't know that for sure.

It was dangerous. It was risky. But, as seen with Ruby, trust itself is a risk. And risks are always dangerous.

b) Trusting a person means to trust them even when you disagree.

Blake and Yang take a risk Ironwood disagrees with, but in the end it pays off. Moreover, they do so to help Ironwood, not to betray him. They are simply approaching the conflict with Robyn with a different method. If the General wants to trust others, he should accept that sometimes people would like to face problems in a way different from his and he should learn to let them.

This is also the point of the divide in volume 8. It is important that, even if the divide is thematically about this: 

Yang: We need to get out there and do what we can for Mantle.

Ruby: We need to do what we can for everyone. What about Amity? And telling the world about Salem? We can’t do this alone. We need help.

The people who choose not to follow Ruby’s leadership (with the exception of Jaune) are:

a) Yang and Oscar, who were against not telling Ironwood the truth:

Oscar: Ruby, hiding things from Ironwood, doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?

Yang: I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did.

b) Ren, who is supportive of Ironwood because thematically his and Nora’s story in the Atlas arc is about expression and repression with Ren repressing his feelings (like Ironwood and the Ace Ops).

It is a way the narrative tests Ruby, so that she learns and does not become like Ironwood:

Ruby: But that’s how Salem got this far - by dividing us. We have to stick together.

Here, Ruby sees separation as something similar to distrust, but she is wrong and Oscar calls her out on this:

Oscar: No. What Salem wants is to turn us against each other. Just like this. Jaune has a point. We can work separately and still be united.

Finding a way to be united even if separated is after all specifically what trust is about. It is actually one of trust’s strongest attributes and what makes it different from control.

OSCAR AND TRUST

Oscar: You want him to trust us? Then trust me. 

Oscar shows other characters and the viewers what trust truly is.

a) Trust means to have hope for a person despite differences, mistakes and conflicts:

Oscar: (to Ironwood) Trust is what I'm hoping to fix. I know we can still figure this out, all of it, together. Please.

Oscar: (about Oz) He trusted my judgment and it saved us. I want to reciprocate that trust. There's a lot to sort out, but... Oz really wants to help.

Oscar: (about Emerald) You don't have to forgive her. You have every reason to feel that way. Just maybe give her a second chance.

Sometimes it turns out badly:

Sometimes it turns out well:

What is important is not to let a bad outcome stop you from trusting again and this is what Oscar teaches Ozpin:

Ozpin: I failed all of you. I should have trusted you with the truth and should never have run the day you discovered it.

b) Trust means to make an act of faith first. Like Oscar does with Hazel:

Hazel: After all that, you’re just going to give Salem the password?

Oscar: No, I’m giving you the password, and hoping you’ll find the truth for yourself.

Hazel has done nothing to gain Oscar’s trust, but the point is that trust is not gained, but it is given. Oscar chooses to do so with Hazel.

This bet pays off and Hazel’s reaction is to trust as well:

Hazel: Actually, I think all my questions are answered now.

So, trusting is difficult and it does not work all the time. Still, when trust succeeds you are able to do great things that are impossible on your own. Sometimes this even happens in an unexpected way.

This is shown once again by the divide in volume 8.

On one hand Yang’s group wants to do their best for the people of Mantle. They focus on the here and now instead than on the bigger battle. However, they blow Monstra up, temporally kill Salem and have both Emerald and Hazel defect.

On the other hand Ruby’s group wants to focus on the bigger picture. They wanna come up with a plan to solve the larger conflict, but they instead find a more efficient way to help the people of Mantle.

YJRO would not have had such an impact on the war if they had not done their best for the people close to them (the people of Mantle, Oscar).

RWBN would not have found a way to help Mantle if they had not gone to Atlas to do something about the bigger picture.

This is an example of people with different priorities still working towards a common goal and discovering that what they pursue is not all that different, after all.

Trust is powerful specifically because of this. It combines together different people and it makes them overcome their differences and conflicts, so that their strength is multiplied.

This is also well shown thanks to the Schnee sisters:

Weiss: Don’t worry, they’re sisters. Sometimes sisters just have very different ideas about what’s right.

Weiss: Well, you'll never guess who I just heard from.

Weiss disagrees with Winter’s choice to side with Ironwood. Still, she loves Winter and trusts her to do what is right in her own way. This is why when Winter texts Weiss, her little sister is ready to accept her help. It could have been dangerous. It could have been Ironwood’s trick. However, Weiss trusts that Winter would not do something like that, despite her loyalty to Ironwood. She believes in her sister and things go well.

So, trusting is a risk, but also:

Yang: Look, blind optimism isn’t great, but no optimism means we already lost. We need hope. We need to take risks.

It is necessary to take risks even if it is scary and if things might not go well. This is what Ruby struggles with in the Atlas arc and this is what she finally realizes:

Ruby: That’s actually a risk we haven’t considered.

It is not by chance that once she understands the theme the protagonists are able to overcome the dead end they are in.

Despite this, things are not all good and well just because of that.

Even when everything seems great. Even when the power of trust is blooming... trust is still a risk and it might not work out.

CINDER AND MANIPULATION

Cinder: I suppose I have all of you to thank for one last lesson. Sometimes, if you want to win...You simply can't do it alone.

Cinder does not trust, but manipulates others:

Cinder: You deserve this, Arthur. We'll be back.

She takes people’s wishes and uses them. She amplifies and twists feelings, so that she can trick others.

She does so with both allies:

Cinder: I've been... instructed not to kill her... But you... You have no such orders. You can do as you please.

And enemies:

Cinder: You’re just a tool to be used!

It is Cinder’s focus on people’s emotions that makes her much more dangerous than Ironwood.

The General’s control is an attempt to make others conform to his ideals and it is rooted in repression. However, feelings can’t be cancelled and if you keep acting against others’ wishes, you are bound to meet resistance.

Cinder instead aknowledges others’ feelings, but she sees them as tools to get what she wants. Her manipulative skills bring together different people and multiply their strength just like trust does. However, Cinder gets to walk away risk-free:

Cinder: You should have never threatened me Neo...

She “kills” Neo and Watts in retaliation, but also, so that there is nobody left that can tell Salem the truth about the Lamp or Ruby:

Cinder:  Before our allies fell, Neopolitan… killed Ruby. And before Ruby and her teammates fell, they used the Lamp’s final question.

So, Cinder is able to realize the safe trust Ruby yearns, but it turns out that it is just manipulation. And yet, it is precisely because of manipulation that the protagonists are defeated in Atlas.

It is symbolic that the key to Cinder’s victory is the password Oscar tells Hazel out of trust:

Oscar’s risk with Hazel works out, but it still backfires in the form of Neo learning Jinn’s name.

Similarly, while the heroes are finally learning the theme, trusting each other and coming up with a plan... so while everything seems to finally be going well... Cinder is secretely observing them and preparing her counter-attack:

Cinder: What have Ruby and her teammates planned?

This does not happen by chance. Cinder wins through manipulation to hammer home how difficult and dangerous it actually is to trust and to take risks. It shows that the line “trust is a risk” is not something said in a light-hearted way and never addressed again. Trust is a risk and risks can go bad. Very bad.

However, giving in to distrust, control and even manipulation is not the right answer. It is true that If you refuse to trust nobody betrays you, but at the same time nobody is left to help you when you need it:

Cinder is so focused in manipulatiing others that she fails to notice she herself is being manipulated. Moreover, her mistreating and betraying others is simply pushing her more and more into Salem’s hands. She is doing well for Salem and not for herself.

This is specifically why, even if she wins in Atlas, she still does not get what she wants:

Penny: I’m right here! I’m what you want!

PENNY AND FAITH

Penny: You were my friend.

Winter: Thank you… for trusting me with this. When you’re...gone

Penny’s final choice is one of faith. She knows she can’t survive her injuries, so she chooses to trust Winter with the Maiden power.

In this way Penny cements her role as the embodyment of friendship, trust and faith. This role is underlined thanks to Penny’s strong link to Amity (which means “friendship”):

Both Penny and Amity are meant to be two of the best expressions of Atlas technology. Penny is a robot with a soul, while Amity is able to unite the world again. They are examples of how technology does not have to be controlling or heartless, but they are both lost. Not only that, but they are lost specifically because of Cinder and Ironwood, who represent two different sides of Atlas society and its contradictions.

Cinder damages both Amity and Penny in their fight and Ironwood has both fall to hack Penny. Similarly, both try to kill Penny until Cinder finally succeeds. So, Penny is specifically a victim of Atlas society. She is controlled and weaponized by it (Ironwood) and killed by its hunger for power (Cinder). Still, Penny never stops loving her home and the people around her. She keeps on having faith in humanity even when things turn dark.

She dies, just like Amity falls, but her final sacrifice still saves everyone and Amity manages to transmit Ruby’s message to the world:

Ruby’s message and Penny’s choice are both extreme representation of trust. They are acts of faith because they lack any form of control whatsoever.

Penny will not be around to see that Winter uses her power well. She will never know, but she believes in Winter.

Ruby has no way to control the panic her message is going to cause and the transmission being cut means any additional information Pietro had planned to add is not transmitted. She can only hope that eventually humanity will pull itself together and unite against Salem.

Both Penny and Ruby can only have faith and give others a choice. Making a good use of the fourth gift given by the Gods is the only way humanity can survive.

Penny’s death is tragic, but it is used to convey a specific message, just like Pyrrha’s one was:

Jaune: I think… I think she knew she wasn’t going to win. That she might not come out alive. But… she also knew she was the only one that could try.

Ren: So she did.

Nora: Maybe we should too.

Jaune: Yeah, we should.

Pyrrha teaches the protagonists that even if it is a losing fight, they must keep on fighting for what is right. Penny teaches them that even if there is no reason to, they must not give up on trust.

Both lessons are connected to the idea of risk. Risks must be taken because to risk means to challenge fear. It means to challenge Salem.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 325: Deku VS the Outside of U.A. ~Conclusion~

Previously on BnHA: Ochako was all “dear bloodthirsty mob, this kid you see standing before you has fought harder than anyone and put his life on the line to protect you all, so please chill the fuck out, jesus christ. like, putting aside that he’s humanity’s best hope and so it’s very much in your best interests to let him rest and recover someplace safe so that he can keep fighting for us, are y’all seriously going to turn away an injured and exhausted child in front of his sobbing mother?? seriously?? come on now.” I’m paraphrasing here but that’s basically how it went down. Anyway so then the mob was all, “...” and Deku collapsed to his knees in tears, and Gigantic Fox Lady and Kouta ran over to give him a hug but then the chapter ended.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “FINE, YOU CAN HUG HIM”, which, was that so hard?? The U.A. Clown Mob is all “come to think of it, we’ve kind of been taking the heroes for granted this entire time, maybe we should be less passive in the future. anyway so Deku if it’s not too much to ask, can you please save everyone and fix everything.” Deku is all “I sure can, and by the way I forgive you for swarming around all menacingly two minutes ago and trying to deny me basic shelter and stuff.” Ectoplasm is all, “hey Todogang get a load of this. [walks in a circle].” Hawks is all, “that’s literally the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” Rat Principal is all, “anyway so that’s what your students did today, hope you’re enjoying your new *~*ROBOT LEG*~*, Aizawa.” Aizawa is all “[lots of exposition about Kurogiri and for some reason, Toga, while being all brooding and sexy].” All Might is all “[standing here right outside of U.A. doing absolutely nothing and being foreboding AF]” and that immediately sucked away all of the warm fuzzy feelings from the hugs, goddammit.

each new week has become a waiting game of “when will Deku finally get to take a bath so people will actually be willing to go near him and give him the hugs he deserves.” the stakes have never been so compelling. I’ve almost forgotten about AFO entirely

lmaoooooo

me: for the love of god will someone please give Deku a hug before I die of old age

Mineta: YOU GOT IT!! --

Iida: [SWIFTLY CUTS HIM OFF] NOT YOU

fucking losing it at Mineta’s crying face. he really wanted to hug him. I legit feel bad but this is also the funniest thing I have seen all week, omg

somehow Kouta, who last week was only a hand’s breadth away from touching Deku’s head, is now twenty miles away from him in this new chapter

can I make a Loki reference here. is this recap a good place to insert a joke about someone using a TVA time-rewinding device to fuck with my poor boy Kouta over here. well anyway there it is

AND NOW HE’S BACK ALL OF A SUDDEN OMG

(ETA: since when is he “niichan” omg?? can’t handle this cuteness.)

BUT THEY’RE STILL NOT HUGGING HIM FFFFKFFFFF. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO. WHO DO I HAVE TO BRIBE AND/OR BLACKMAIL

OH NO KOUTA IS CRYING THAT’S IT I’M DONE FOR

“when I heard that lady I knew that I had to go, but then stop again within inches of actually touching you because you smell like week-old rotten onions.” listen Kouta, I’m not saying I don’t get it, but you all can’t keep doing this to me. it’s the way you guys keep teasing it. like, if you’re gonna hug him, hug him. don’t just stand there with your arms held rigidly out in front of you like a molded action figure

OH MY GOSH BUT HE SAID THE THING

KOUTA SWOOPING IN AT THE LAST MINUTE TO TAKE ALL THE CREDIT FOR FIXING DEKU LIKE THAT ONE KID IN THE GROUP PROJECT WHO DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT STILL TAGS HIS NAME ONTO THE REPORT ANYWAY, WHAT A KNAVE

GASP

(  ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )

SHE PICKED HIM UP LIKE A LITTLE BABY OMG?? she just leaned right over and lifted this child like he was a small animal. like a lil baby futon that she was about to hang up to dry. oh my god

-- HEY WHAT

(: well that’s extremely fucked up. though sadly not too surprising given what we just saw these past couple chapters

incidentally, I hope that anyone who was legitimately defending the civilians’ perspective earlier takes note here of how quickly that line of thinking -- “we’re just trying to keep our families safe” and all that-- can lead to straight up bigotry. if you’re willing to deny a child shelter and protection simply because he’s not YOUR child, and because you’ve decided based on Internet rumors (no real-world parallels there, I’m sure) that he might present a threat, it’s really not that much further of a leap to discriminating against entire groups of people simply because you perceive those groups as being dangerous. I’m sure the people who turned Gigantic Fox Lady away also told themselves afterwards that they did it to protect their families. “better safe than sorry.” “she’ll be fine, someone will take her in, but as for us, we can’t afford to take that risk.” people can come up with all kinds of justifications for treating other people as less than human, and the really scary thing about it is how fucking easy it is

one last quick side note, which is that Horikoshi does a great job here of showing how scapegoating works, given that AFO is the one who’s really to blame and who presents the actual threat, and yet Deku is the one who ultimately winds up being the target of the mob’s fear and outrage despite him being as much of a victim as they are. gotta love that irony, which unfortunately plays out far too often in the real world as well.

anyway I’ll get off my soapbox now, sorry about that. let us continue

YES, FINALLY OH MY GOD!!!!

AND THAT’S THE STORY OF HOW GIGANTIC FOX LADY BECAME THE GREATEST HERO. PACK IT ALL UP, WE’RE DONE HERE KIDS

holy shit. the real MVP right there. thanks for getting it done champ

jesus christ I have had it up to here with these people

literally the bar is set so low at this point that I’ll go ahead and take it. helping him because it offers them a tactical advantage is at least one step up from not helping him at all

“WHY NOT SHIKETSU” MOTHERFUCKER I SWEAR TO GOD

-- thank you!!

okay this one guy with the antennae hair is having himself a character development speedrun here

-- okay, but this part?? fucking this part, right here??

can we repeat that again?? the part where this guy acknowledges that the problems of hero society were caused not just by said heroes, but also by said society?? the part where he acknowledges that they treated the heroes like celebrities who were putting on a show for them?? the part where he acknowledges that when push came to shove, the vast majority of those heroes, when faced with a situation that offered no reward, were nonetheless willing to put their lives on the line to protect the very same people who then turned around and blamed them rather than thanking them?? are the civilians of BnHA even allowed to have actual deep thoughts about this stuff. holy shit

bro!!

ANTENNAE HAIR GUY SHOVING KOUTA AND GIGANTIC FOX LADY OUT OF THE WAY TO SLAP HIS NAME ONTO THE END CREDITS AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. CONGRATULATIONS SON YOU FIGURED OUT THE CORE PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION AT THE VERY HEART OF THE MANGA. WAY TO GO BUD

meanwhile, on today’s episode of “one more chapter to go till the big volume cliffhanger, how else can I drag things out let’s see”

it’s a panel. of people’s feet. just a bunch of normal feet. with sneakers and shit

this All Might shirt guy is getting more screentime in this arc than 90% of the class 1-A kids

I guess I’m supposed to feel sorry for this dude now that he’s all “if we let you stay here do you promise to somehow magically fix every single problem that we are now currently facing?” those are some ridiculously exacting standards my dude. come on now

KACCHAN SIGHTING

thank fuck I’m not the only one who’s thoroughly unimpressed by absolutely all of this lol. I feel better now. meanwhile Iida and Kouda and Kiri are ready to run over there and hug them all. you guys are way too forgiving. damn you and your pure hearts

anyway so Deku’s like “yeah, definitely”

(ETA: almost forgot to comment on the “I’m no longer alone” part – he basically corrects the guy and says “sorry, but you’ll need to direct that question towards all of us, not just me, because moving forward we’re a team.” good stuff.)

you know what though, all joking aside... fuck yeah. because perfect victory, right. the strongest guys don’t settle for anything less. so I guess Deku has pretty exacting standards himself

also can you all just take a look at this fucking kid who’s got so much light in his eyes now that I’m gonna need eclipse goggles. hot damn. “you’re welcome” says All Might Shirt Guy as he is frantically interviewed by several local news networks asking him how he daringly managed to save Deku all by himself. “well I guess I’ve just never been the kind of guy who can sit back and let a bunch of rabble-rousers blame a little kid for all of humanity’s problems. someone had to step in and take action, you know?”

oH MY GOD THE SCENE IS FINALLY ENDING

don’t let the door hit you on your way out All Might Shirt Guy

but meanwhile, sudden Tododrama action??

oh shit

there are honestly so many ways in which Ochako’s very moving speech could have wildly backfired that I genuinely have no clue where this is headed lol. how exciting!!

so now Horikoshi is once again stalling for time with random filler panels, but this one is 10x better than the shoes lol omg

(1) was Ectoplasm’s jacket always this oversized. (2) did you guys know that if you go back to chapter 319 you can see that Horikoshi gave us a sneak peak at Enji’s Sad Detective disguise and I in fact made a joke about it in the 319 recap not realizing it was actually the stone cold truth. (3) did Shouto deliberately speed up out of impatience because Hawks was walking so fucking slow and he couldn’t take it any longer. (4) and what, I ask you, is up with these dramatic speedlines. so many mysteries here. what a masterpiece

everyone is acting all shocked about something ahh what’s going on

wait what

what the heck. did they just loop around behind everyone. what was the point of that lol. “anyway, so this is what they look like from the back” well okay, thanks for that Ectoplasm

(ETA: so it seems like they were actually hanging out someplace else away from the crowd this whole time, I guess? here I thought they had more faith in Enji’s disguise. I guess Shouto and Hawks don’t particularly want to attract this crowd’s attention themselves right now either, though.)

I am so fucking confused lmao

speaking of All Might WHERE THE FUCK IS HE lol. but yes, good, OFA brings everyone together, and Hawks is very deeply moved about this out of the blue all of a sudden. you know how it is

aw heck yeah now this is another filler panel I can get behind

Mineta really wants that hug, good lord. I genuinely love this actually. Mineta if you could just stay little and cute and keep crying about how much you love your classmates in a non-gross way for the rest of the series I would be so appreciative. you’re doing great

IIDA IS HOLDING DEKU’S HAND THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ONE TIME WASN’T ENOUGH FOR MY MAN HE’S ADDICTED NOW

what did I tell you. Kiri wants to get all of the mob’s autographs now. Kiri you’re a peach

Shouji having a conversation with another mutant type is a very nice touch! we really need to get to his backstory soon. I feel like that casual remark from GFL earlier was kind of hinting at more to come

is this the first time we’ve ever seen the Yaoyorictionary in action?? never forget that Viz tried to call it the “Yaoyorozu Reference Book” because they hate fun

last but not least, KAMIBAKU IS BACK ON THE MENU, FUCK YEAH. Kaminari trying to spice things up and introduce a little bit of controversy by smacking Kacchan on the back of the head for god knows what. I will be deeply disappointed after this if I can’t find at least one person unironically declaring that KamiBaku is now toxic and abusive

lfkdlWLWK TODODRAMA??

oh my god. Shouto’s face. Enji’s face. the back to “oyaji” again. the blunt, not-taking-no-for-an-answer, “I don’t know how much louder the universe can scream at you that doing things alone is not it, so hopefully you got the point” directness of it. fffdlkslj I’m so ready for this Horikoshi please don’t fuck it up my expectations are so high

HOLY FUCK

I SCROLLED DOWN AND HE WAS ALL “( ❛‿❛)” AND I JUST WASN’T FUCKING EXPECTING THAT OKAY. JESUS CHRIST. GIVE ME A SEC

lol okay moment over and now Enji’s pulling his hat down all dramatically like a world-weary Cowboy

OH MY GOD WERE YOU FACETIMING??

AHHHHHHHHH

(ETA: not to put Iida down or anything, but it’s kind of strange that Aizawa is all “the class rep sure did great” when Ochako is the one that was giving that whole big speech for like twenty minutes just now lol.)

(ETA 2: “thank god Iida stepped in just in the nick of time to keep Mineta from hugging Deku.” sorry Mineta I really do like you lately but it’s still low-hanging fruit lol.)

HE LOOKS SO SAD??! HE LOOKS LIKE HEARTBREAK ITSELF??! I AM BESOUGHT WITH THE URGE TO REACH INTO MY SCREEN AND PULL HIM INTO THE SAFETY OF MY ARMS??? MY GOD, AND I THOUGHT DEKU NEEDED HUGS

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH okay I was gonna just hold down the letter H for a full minute and count it out loud but within about ten seconds I realized I needed to chill lol

-- but then again NO, I DON’T NEED TO CHILL, I HAVE ZERO CHILL, ACTUALLY, BECAUSE IT’S AIZAWA WITH A ROBOT LEG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

COMPLETE WITH ROBOT TOES FOR THAT EXTRA TOUCH OF AUTHENTICITY!! I LIKE HOW HORIKOSHI PUT ALL THIS EXTRA “!!!” EMPHASIS AROUND IT IN CASE WE COULD SOMEHOW POSSIBLY FAIL TO TAKE NOTICE. “REMEMBER, EVERYONE?” SAYS HORIKOSHI HELPFULLY. “REMEMBER THAT TIME AIZAWA CHOPPED OFF HIS OWN LEG?” oh wow now that you mention it we somehow forgot all about that. like who do you take us for

OH NO NOT THE SAD BOYFRIEND ANGST THAT I WAS SECRETLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WITH GLEE

well at least he’s not M.I.A. or back with the villains again like I thought he might be. still, that’s gotta be brutal to know your friend is in there somewhere, but to not be able to reach him again no matter how hard you try. that’s the kind of angst that pays off in final battles just when you most expect it. such is my hope, at any rate

what’s this now??

trying to decide if this is Horikoshi’s way of saying don’t worry about that, or his way of saying definitely worry about that lol

anyway so Aizawa is out here being all irresponsibly handsome once again. when is someone going to do something about him

here for Sexy Robot Leg Eyepatch Aizawa clenching his fists and making speeches about revenge. pretty sure we’re all here for that

WELL, WELL, WELL

IT’S ABOUT FUCKING TIME

I’M VERY GLAD YOU’RE ALIVE AND SEEMINGLY WELL, THOUGH!

BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK THOUGH, ALL MIGHT

ffff. bracing myself for that cliffhanger next week. you’d better not touch one hair on this man’s head Horikoshi. I’m watching you 

[mousieta]

2022 Drama Rankings: Dropped Shows

Bulgasal

Year: 2022 Country: Korea Platform: Netflix Episodes watched: 2/16 I so wanted to like this one, I was quite excited for the cast as I enjoy Lee Jin Wook, Kwon Na Ra and Lee Joon quite a bit in other shows. The premise, also, felt very Guardian-esq in a good way. I enjoy a good immortal series and Korean fantasy with a dark gritty edge? Yes, sign me up.

Unfortunately I could never get past the first two episodes. It fell victim to the trap that immediately kills my desire to continue watching a show: I started rewriting the whole thing *as* I was watching it (at least with Love in the Air the rewriting didn’t start for me until I’d seen the whole thing). But once my writer brain kicks in to redo it all, the show is done for me, its no longer fun, it is work and frustration.

I just didn’t care for the writerly choices as they felt poor and led to the overall tone of those first two episodes being very flat, emotionally. I just didn’t care about any character enough to make the flaws worth it.

Business Proposal

Year: 2022 Country: Korea Platform: Netflix Episodes Watched: 2/12 This was sharp and slick, and very cute. I made it, again, through about two episodes before I realized I just didn’t care enough to keep going. The cute felt a little too much, as though the show were depending on that and its bag of tropes rather than believable characterizations and moving plots.

The writing of what I saw seemed fine, the acting was fine, the directing was a little to into itself but it was fine. Fine, fine, fine, and in a lineup of much more compelling shows, I just didn’t feel like spending my time with fine.

F4 Boys over Flowers

Year: 2022 Country: Korea Platform: Netflix Episodes Watched: 3/16 I think I may just be Boys Over Flowersed out, y’all. Again, like Business Proposal, it was cute and fine. I made it through three episodes and just kept forgetting to watch more. I guess I don’t love BrightWin enough to watch heterosexual shenanigans.

The casting seemed spot on and I love that Thailand now has their own version which seemed to do well. I have the Korean version which was my first and the Chinese version which is my favorite and I think that’s enough F4 for me.

The Wind Blows from Longxi

Year: 2022 Country: China Platform: Viki Episodes Watched: 9/24 Of all the shows on this list - and maybe any other on my Dropped list this one and the next make me the saddest. I got quite far as well, nearly halfway. On paper, this has everything I need. The writing is good and intense with layers of conflict and constant guessing at the twists and turns of the plot. It is slick and well-directed and the acting is phenomenal. It also has a delicious staple: a tense and fraught m/m love/betrayal dynamic. This should have been catnip but for some reason I was  always either too mentally tired to engage, or would get distracted watching other things. Dropping this was definitely an ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ thing. Hopefully, someday I’ll have the capacity for it because I think it would be an excellent and captivating binge watch.

Heroes

Year: 2022 Country: China Platform: YouTube Episodes Watched: 19/38 This is another one that dropping made me sad. It was delightful and has Baron Chen!! An OT3 Romance! Delightful DMBJ connections!! All I can say is what did it in for me was likely the platform. I don’t have the fancy YouTube so watching commercials made it impossible for my ADHD brain to keep focused on an episode, I kept getting lost in the plot (which isn’t why I was bothering to watch but would have been nice to follow) Now that it is on Viki I might give it another go when I’m in the right mood.

Strangers from Hell

Year: 2019 Country: Korea Platform: Netflix Episodes Watched: 5/10 This was so, so good. Amazing. Gripping. Twisted. Lee Dong Wook was terrifying and compelling, Im Si Wan was as good as he ever is. Everything about this was good. I am just a great big old scaredy-pants who cannot tolerate anything suspensful or scary (I never have been able to).

I did my best: I only watched on brightly lit weekends in the middle of the day, and only one episode at a time. With those restrictions I managed to make it to episode 5 before I just couldn’t take it anymore. Highly recommend if psychological horror is your jam, you will be very pleased with it, I think. I just…can’t watch anymore. Dong Wook I still love you though! I just love sleeping through the night more.

2022 Drama Reviews Masterlist