#and finally enjoy himself

[dovewingkinnie]

an angel who saved a guy before he could die and vows to protect him and bring him joy

[fexjam]

snack boy

[aethersea]

I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.

it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"

plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.

anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.

[justaz]

lol arthur realizes with the other knights after watching merlin flirt and being hit with a wave of deja vu: holy shit you asked me out

merlin and the rest of the knights around a campfire after leaving a village bc lancelot and leon somehow started a brawl in the tavern: ???

arthur points at merlin: after valiant! you asked me to buy you a drink! you were asking me out!

merlin is busy cooking dinner and confused out of his fucking mind: what???…..valiant….oh the knight with the snakes.

gwaine who was slightly tipsy now stone cold sober and sitting up straight against a tree: wait. explain. what do you mean merlin asked you out??

arthur snaps his fingers as he recalls the memory: i apologized for sacking you and you said that if i bought you a drink we’d be even.

merlin now remembering how he had stumbled into camelot, picked a fight with a pigheaded bully which quickly turned homoerotic and flirtatious, and continued their teasing-flirting for days before merlin shot his shot and asked the prince out only to be rejected: oh yeah, i forgot i did that…..wait, you mean you didnt realize what i was asking?

arthur: no?? we argued everyday, how was i supposed to realize you were asking me out??

merlin now abandoning the dinner and staring across the camp at arthur while the rest of the knights watch their back and forth like a game of tennis: to you we were arguing, to me that was very much flirting. i thought you were flirting back so i decided to ask you. then you rejected me

arthur, mentally beating his past self up for fucking up their chance: i didn’t reject you!!! i just didn’t realize what you were asking me. how was i meant to? we fought every chance we got

leon, nudging elyan, glee and excitement riling through him: its happening!!! its finally happening!!! seven long, grueling years is finally paying off!!!

merlin, realizing the misunderstanding and acknowledging the fact that he wasn’t rejected, his flirtations just weren’t noticed - realizing he still has a chance: oh…oh i see. arthur, my dear, our fights were extremely flirtatious. need i remind you of what you said? “do you know how to walk on your knees? would you like me to teach you?” or “i could take you apart with one blow”

arthur, mental capabilities at an all time low: m…my dear….?????????

merlin grinning devilishly as he realizes that his flirtatious persona he had hidden away after falling head over heels for arthur can make a come back: that is what i called you. should i call you something else? say…mine?

percival gags in elyan’s ear: cheesy

elyan hides a laugh: at least they’re finally getting somewhere. better than the hopeless pining

arthur, flushed from head to toe: ah uh no um im uh

merlin thoroughly enjoying himself: oh come now, your majesty. use your words.

[muzzlemouths]

can i also be beautiful if i am dangerous?

[crossdressingdeath]

The thing is at this point seeing people talking like Lucanis hates being a Crow and wants out is an easy way to learn that they do not in fact understand Lucanis as a character. There is nothing to suggest that Lucanis is unhappy as a Crow. "The training was torture and he resented Caterina for it for a long time" and "he doesn't like being a Crow" are not the same thing. "He's hesitant at the idea of being First Talon" and "he doesn't like being a Crow" are not the same thing. Lucanis likes being a Crow. Is it the path he would've chosen for himself if he hadn't been born into it? Maybe not (but "this isn't where they would've ended up if their life was different" applies to most of the characters in this series so it's not really valid evidence re the question of whether or not he's happy; if you're going to claim that Lucanis clearly hates being a Crow just because he didn't get a choice you'd better also be claiming that Alistair hates being a Warden, and I don't think I need to say that that's not the case). Does he wish the training had been easier to bear? Maybe so (and he's for sure going to be a reformer). I think people miss that while he does acknowledge the Crows' flaws—especially with de Riva, he really is much more willing to raise the subject with a fellow Crow—he never once expresses any dissatisfaction with being a Crow beyond him not being entirely comfortable with the idea of being named First Talon. I assure you he doesn't want to be Rook's house husband! He's gonna go back to the Crows post-game! That's what he wants! And people ignoring that because they can't handle the idea that he can like cooking and knitting and caring for the people he loves and also genuinely enjoy being a professional assassin is a real shame, because they're ignoring one of the most fascinating parts of his character.

[benevolenterrancy]

"All we get is a chance. We don't get a benison. He was chained to an anvil for seven years. He should get his chance, don't you think?"

[bacchuschucklefuck]

modes of flight

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

The situation between Kiryu and Majima is mostly just really depressing. But I think you kinda got at a silver lining with Majima ending the game by talking to and spending time with Kiryu in a normal way.

Majima has done everything except be upfront with Kiryu about his feelings. Instead, he does a lot of self-destructive things for Kiryu’s sake that would only devastate Kiryu if he knew the extent of what’s been going on with him (thinking of Kiryu being a mess in 5 over Majima’s “death” and then Majima nearly actually dying for Kiryu’s sake).

Majima just spending time with Kiryu in the hospital and telling him about what he’s been up to probably goes a lot further in making Kiryu happy than if he had actually shown up with a immortal elixir that he put his life at risk to get.

Yeah, looking back I wish I'd taken more time to reflect on the new, more positive development between Majima and Kiryu at the end of the scene, because as depressing as their situation as a whole is, that silver lining is genuinely really significant. I believe it really does show that their relationship is not doomed to depressing hell forever, and that is largely in part to Majima's own growth in this game.

As I touched on in another post, Majima walking away from the viewer to Kiryu’s hospital room parallels very interestingly with how Yakuza 0 ended, when Majima walked away from Makoto. In y0 silences his feelings and walks away, choosing to maintain a physical And emotional distance between them that he carries all the way to yk2 (and that he Does Not Let Go Of, even In his saga in yk2), leaving all of the self-sacrificing and self-destructive gestures but none of the actual fulfillment of the ability to just. Enjoy each others' company when the danger has finally passed.

Meanwhile in pyih you see him walking towards Kiryu in the final seconds of the game, confronting him head-on (with encouragement from Saejima), just to. Talk. No business, no "take care of x for me" no "I'm Depending on your for y", just having a normal conversation like they should've, could've done in yakuza 3, like they could've done in infinite wealth, what I wish they'd done in 5 and what they Definitely didn't do enough of in Gaiden. (And, just like what Majima and Makoto should've done too in yk2, if Majima had actually grown).

Its interesting because Majima, who's all about impulsive and grandiose gestures and actions and the need to die in a way that matters for someone else, technically didn't even "win" with his plans this time, like he did with Makoto. He didn't get to pull off his hundred-millionth self-sacrificing gesture for Kiryu. He didn't get to die valiantly fighting. A giant squid (lmao) or run back to Japan with the treasure that he dug up with his own blood sweat and tears. But he seems. Strangely okay with the aftermath, all things considered (I know I've been sticking to the word "resigned" when describing how he feels in this particular moment all this time but. What I'm getting at is that he's more okay than you may expect, considering the circumstances and the stakes at hand.)

(I want to (very abruptly lol) point out the fact that we've seen this kind of arc with Majima on a smaller scale before. Majima had a lot of the same deal in y0/4, where he pushed himself with the goal to die for Saejima for Years before his release from prison and was ready to go through with it the day of. However, this ended up being another situation where he "didn't win." What he got by the end of it wasn't Saejima claiming his title as new Tojo patriarch over his dead body, but rather (after a fight goaded on by Majima himself and some pushing by Saejima) they got to just. Talk things down. And just go back to being the bros they were before that whole mess. And Saejima's been able to be Majima's rock for the rest of the games since.

I just think someone would've benefited a Lot from taking notes. And that someone is Not Saejima.)

Like I kinda-did-kinda-didn't get to at the end of the whale post, I think the most important takeaway for Majima at the end of this game is him learning to not constantly throw himself into the fire for every person he wants to protect. Getting himself killed for Saejima and Kiryu wouldn't have made them happy. Keeping himself away from Makoto didn't make her happy, and now the ship of them being involved in each other's lives has long since sailed.

Keeping himself emotionally distant hasn't helped any of them Once, and this is why it's so important that he tries to cross some of that gap now with what is honestly his worst case of lifelong devotion yet (even if it's in a way that's small, in a way that's arguably insignificant for the emotional rift they have, even if it's just through telling some pirate tale, even if Kiryu might not know the true significance of it all even now. At least its Something. At least they just get to be. People, together. It's much more casual than anything they've had with each other for the past like 5 games, but strangely that casualness is arguably more intimate, after everything that's happened.)

Honestly this decision from Majima aligns perfectly with the admittedly cheesy (but I mean this in a loving way) ending of the main plot of pyih itself; by the end of the adventure Majima seeks not the grand impossible treasure he was originally chasing after but to rather cherish and enjoy the time he spent with the people he has come to care about over the course of the game (the photo). Such simple kinds of wishes are rare for Majima at best, but that's why it's so important he gives himself that now: the ability to just sit down and talk with the people he cherishes. That literally would've saved him so many damn times, I think. I think that's something he's desperately needed with Kiryu especially since Yakuza 3. And I think that those final moments in the last cutscene of pirate yakuza means he'll let himself indulge in it, just a little.

I really just hope that it'll be enough to give him and Kiryu some of that peace and closure that they seem to chronically lack, especially when it comes to each other. I hope it means they really can be happy with each other, just for a little while. Most of all I hope it means Majima can be at least some degree of upfront one day, before it's straight up too late 💥

(tl;dr Yeah, honestly, Majima just sitting down and talking with Kiryu for once means more for himself than killing himself over that eternal life elixir ever could have. He's an old ass man, he should learn to settle down a bit, you know?)

[weeping-juniper]

My piece for @lokiusbang !!

I really enjoyed creating this piece and working w @scifikimmi , who wrote the companion fic for this event! Please go check it out!! 💚🧡

Companion fic link

[fitzyames]

I WOULD HAVE DONE TONS OF COCAINE WITH YOU AND KEPT YOU ALIVE FOREVER

[gourmet-soda-pop]

fancied doodling an etho -

...

omg efo hiiii !!!!!! ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[mobius-m-mobius]

He'll make it back.

Loki 1x05 // 2x01

[moeblob]

Honestly? Good anime imo! I really enjoyed Aileen. I enjoyed Claude. I enjoyed Isaac and Keith and Rachel and Almond and Ribbon. I enjoyed Belzebuth and the flock of ducks (Walt/Kyle/Auguste) and Jasper.

[sysig]

“My streamer” voice: My doctorrrrrr (Patreon)