#and for Kay to have a role in the sequel

[basementnoodles]

That katara take is not only incredibly silly, it misses the point of her relationship with aang by a mile. People really wanna see 'problematic' where there isn't any - god forbid some people date young and actually stay together, lmao

I want to start this off by saying that this isn't about bashing Kataang, or Aang for the matter.It's about acknowledging how Katara as a character gets sidelined the moment she and Aang become canon.

For context, I reblogged this post from @southslates

" I always feel bad for katara in the context of her life after atla because like, she's fourteen when this twelve year old avatar decides that she's his forever girl. and the whole world knows it and even if she'd eventually left aang, she would always have somewhat been the avatar's girl. maybe it looked like she had a choice but she didn't, not really. even if she eventually would have chosen aang that choice was taken away from her. that stings. "

That moment in the finale where Aang kisses her isn't just a romantic resolution—it’s a narrative full-stop on Katara's autonomy. From that point on, her development is flattened.Lets start with the comics, the direct sequel to the series.In the spirit of keeping things brief, I will not unpack every single interaction between her and Aang in all the comics but ill highlight the ones that stuck out to me the most, but if youre interested in a more throuought unpacking ill link @araeph's series, Katara : Consumed by destiny.I highly recommend checking it out, its a really interesting read.At this point in the timeline, Katara and Aang are officially together, and as such the nature of their relationship has changed..but to the detriment of her charather.

In the promise, Katara's role is diminished primarily to that of Aang’s emotional support. Her feelings and actions revolve entirely around him, and she never voices independent opinions or challenges him, even when she arguably should—such as when Aang is debating over killing Zuko.In s3, we see Aang's internal conflict about having to kill ozai and how he overcame it.Here we are a year later with a rehash of this problem--Aang, a 13 year old non-violent, peaceful monk anguishing whether or not to kill a tyrannical firelord. Not only does Katara offer no real emotional insight on this, but actively encourages him to not only go against his values but dosen't reflect how that might affect him, her and the rest of the gaang on an emotional level.Isn't Zuko supposed to be her friend ? Broski took a literal lightning bolt to the chest for her.

This pattern continues throuought the rest of the comics--In The Search, she essentially acts as Aang's body guard and she and Sokka are Zuko's role model for the Ideal sibling dynamic.We don't see her motivation for going on this trip at all--Its almost like the only reason she's there is because Aang is, or because she's a member of the gaang--so she needs to be there.If so, where are Toph and Suki ? Hell, It makes more sense for Suki to be there instead of her, since her job is centered around protecting the Firelord ! We also never get to see her feelings on the situation, or especially Azula ---Katara literally witnessed the Fire Princess try to kill two of her loved ones TWICE.You would think that the authors would delve into Katara's feelings on the matter.The last time Katara saw Azula was during the last agni kai and Azula was chained to a metal gurder and crying hysterically.You would think that Katara would have some strong emotions about the Fire princess.Anger at her for all the times that she tried to kill her loved ones ? Guilt for being partially the reason that she got sent to the asylumn,Pity because her current condition ?

On a similar note, why hasn't Katara helped her ?Since Katara's has been established as the emotional support member of the friend group, you would think that because of her caring nature, she would at least attempt to help Azula with her mental troubles, despite her complicated feelings towards the princess.This is the same girl who tried to help a starving village from a nation that she hated, the same girl who tried to heal Zuko's scar when they were technically still enemies, the same girl who was the first to reach out to Zuko and catch him from falling to a painful death despite actively hating him.

I don't have much to say about smoke and shadow except for the fact that there was no reason for Katara and her brother to not be there for the majority of the comic---The Gaang knows that the Fire Nation isn't a big fan of Zuko at the moment and I don't understand why she and Sokka couldn't have been there to help defend Ursa and Co as a show of support for their friend.And their help would have been invaluable during the Kemurikage crisis--showcasing Sokka's skills as a strategist and engineer and Katara's leadership skills during a search and rescue of the kidnapped kids as well as her waterbending .Show!Katara, defendor of the defenseless would NOT have left the fire nation if she knew kids were involved imo.The Rift tries to set up an arc for her to go down, but just as quickly she is pushed aside in favor of Toph and Aang's respective plotlines.

The comics do not provide Katara with opportunities to showcase her strengths, wisdom, or leadership qualities.By relegating her to the background and not making her an active participant in the plot, she becomes little more than Aang's arm candy.

This becomes more apparent in LOK.There are no statues of her while everyone else in the gaang ( except for Suki, because the writers completely forgot of her existence post comics-) gets at least one.We know nothing of what she did during her time in republic city.We know that she moved to the United Republic to start a life with Aang, but what did she do during that time period ? We know that she ( allegedly, since it isn't acknowleged in the court scene ) led the efforts to outlaw blood-bending, which is in charather for her to do and the most logical since out of everyone in her friend group, she was the most affected by the effects of blood-bending because of what happened with Hama in The Puppeteer. Yakone abused his powers to terrorize Republic City for years. Katara, famously known for her activism in the face of injustice should naturally have been front and center on that trial, as a founding member of republic city and representative of the SWT. But no.Sokka lead Yakone's trial and delivered the crime lord's sentence.Sokka, who although was also affected by bloodbending, should have been in the SWT, leading or at least preparing to take over as Chieftain of the tribe.

So what did she do during her time in republic city ? Become a stay at home and raise the kids on Air Temple island while Aang flew all over the world, settling disputes and building bonds ? While Republic City ran rampant with crime and discrimination ? Becoming a stay at home mother is completely fine, but it clashes who we know Katara is as a person.We know that she would not sit idly by and do nothing as injustice was happening right in front of her.As we speak of injustice...

Katara sat idly by as Aang blatantly neglected his two eldest in favor for their youngest, Tenzin.

Im not expecting Kataang to be the perfect parents.Katara lost her mom early on in her life and her father was absent when she and sokka needed him the most and Aang is also the Avatar but is also the last person of his kind--a group of people who had a different take on raising children then the other three nations.The very notion of a " Nuclear Family ", hell even marriage is one he didn't grow up with.However, Katara values family deeply, and as a mature emotionally in-tune woman would have seen the effects of Aangs ( unintentional ?) neglect on his other children.She would have known how they and been able to empatize with them, especially since she experienced the same neglect due to Hakoda anbandoning her and Sokka when they were younger.The Katara we know would have not idly stood by and let her children suffer--she would have talked to aang and ensured that all their kids got the love that they deserved. But she didn't.And Bumi,Kya and Tenzin suffered for it.In Korra's time, Katara's relationship with her family is superficial.Her grandchildren don't see her often, to the point that her youngest grand-child dosen't even recognize her.She sits idly by as her family and friends are targeted and attacked by their enemies ( Amon, the red lotus, Kuvira) while Zuko and Toph--charathers are moving earth and sky to protect their respective families.

Katara isn't even present at their successes--not joining them when they were in the SWT, not joining them family trips, and she certainly wasn't there for her Jinora's air mastery ceremony, even though what was left of the Gaang and Korra who was wheelchair bound at the time, attended.

Furthermore, Katara is the last member of the gaang who is narratively the closest to Korra.Despite possesing the spirit of her ex-husband, Korra is a fellow member of the SWT and her student.Katara personally helped oversee the young avatar's training--by that logic they should have been very close.Yet Korra rarely, if ever seeks her council, and when she does need her assistance, Katara is always unable to help her.Katara, who we are constantly told is the worlds best healer.

Katara, who post show was made to only focus on her children and her healing abilities, failed at even just that.

Katara always stood for agency, for compassion with conviction. But the franchise reduced her to caretaker and emotional backbone for the Gaang—noble, sure, but not a full reflection of who she is.

Katara never got the space to evolve as an individual after the war, and this lack of narrative focus reinforces the idea that once she became "Aang’s girl," her story was finished. A core part of Katara's character arc was her refusal to be defined by anyone—especially a man—but in the end, she was overshadowed by one. What’s truly painful is that it never felt like Katara had the freedom to make that choice for herself. That’s what truly stings.

In the end, this isn’t just about romance or ships—it’s about the integrity of a character who meant so much to so many. Katara deserved a future shaped by her own choices, filled with growth, struggle, triumph, and identity beyond just being someone’s partner or mother. The narrative didn’t give her that. It reduced a vibrant, driven, compassionate, and complex girl into a symbol of domesticity and emotional support, without ever exploring the cost of that transition. Katara was never just “the girl.” She was the heart of the Gaang, a master waterbender, a revolutionary, a sister, a friend, and a fighter. And it's heartbreaking that the legacy of such a dynamic character was ultimately treated as an afterthought. She deserved more—and so did we.

[miyagi-hokarate]

Random assortment of season 6 part 3 and series finale thoughts:

It's actually quite hard to formulate articulate thoughts when the overwhelming majority while watching the finale was negativity and disgust

BECAUSE OHHHHH MAN, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT....

I don't even know where to begin

Okay I guess I could start from the beginning. WHY is Kwon's death treated so LAX.

I can't be the only person who thought that Kwon's death and the legal/emotional ramifications of that (or lack thereof) felt so lackluster??? A KID DIED. EVEN BESIDES THE FACT THERE'D BE AN INVESTIGATION ABOUT THIS (because we all know Cobra Kai would ignore a sense of realism if it meant getting to the badass part), DOZENS OF PEOPLE SAW A DEAD PERSON WITH THEIR OWN EYES. I could believe the Sekai Taikai breeding such a competition-hungry crowd that they're cannibalizing themself into turning back towards their fatal "darker" years, but it's sickening seeing these characters want to bounce back without so much as a second thought about what killed Kwon, because it wasn't just a blade. IT WASN'T JUST THE BLADE. WHY DO THEY NOT CARE. Also fuck Mitch for eating nachos during Kwon's moment of silence.

I'm sorry everybody who ships them I truly am but I just cannot deny the fact that I am just anti Jarmen. It's such a stupid thing and I hate that it's come to this point, but genuinely every moment Johnny and Carmen are smiling and being a family made me feel the same sick feeling as watching The Stepford Wives. I just caaaaan't watch Johnny and Carmen be so fucking happy like it's a trad life progaganda campaign. The way Johnny and Carmen barely feel like actual, nuanced characters — ESPECIALLY CARMEN, who gets the short end of the fucking stick when it comes to characterization and Actual Depth — to then be representative of this heteronormative, nuclear family ideal picture perfect bullshit just ruins the idea of them two. This especially hurts Carmen, who's basically stuck in storage until she could be turned on to become Miguel's Mom, Johnny's Girlfriend, Johnny's Wife, the fucking Jarmen baby's MOM AGAIN. Carmen's identity as a character is chained to either her son or her main character love interest, and it's sickening watching the Jarmen scenes celebrate this pastiche of domestic bliss.

I hated the proposal. I don't even have anything else to say about this. I just hated the proposal so much.

The American Exceptionalism present in this part actually made this hard to watch Jesus Christ. There's nothing more awful than watching a sequel television show to a movie trilogy that criticized American militarism and imperialism to now having a blond blue-eyed man barking like a drill sargeant to his child soldiers in a karate tournament with a kill count to "show those international assholes".

This show loooooooves using women to fuel the storylines for men and cutting corners by not even showing the female character's perspective or role just to make it all about the man Kumiko Girl I Am So Sorry.

When I said I wanted Chozen to get all the bitches, this is not what I meant. Chozen Toguchi, you remain one of the weirdest character decays in modern television, and I wish everyone who got you there dead.

I like the Samtory scene :) I'm not gonna pretend and act like Sam and Tory being girl best friends wasn't the thing that made me smile the hardest. WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'm conflicted about my thoughts on Sam's storyline and ESPECIALLY TORY'S. With at least Sam, she's getting the opportunity to explore her future that isn't so tied with karate or Daniel, which is good for her! SURE, it would have been nice to see her compete, but honestly the fact that Sam had a the option to leave karate and did so on her volition because of her values feels mote satisfying to me, compared to Tory and Robby. Regarding Tory, I really wish I could be happy for how her story ends — but, like Robby, there's just something aggravating seeing that karate is made out to be her only option pass high school. And in a way, because we never got anything substantial about Tory's interests and passion outside of karate, it is??? Nevermind that karate — no, COBRA KAI — had gotten Tory into so much trouble, made her into a child soldier for a cult, weaponized her grief and anger, etc. I don't know what a "good" end to Tory's story should have looked like, but it's hard to say for me if this was it.

SPEAKING OF, a character I definitely feel like their story was unsatisfying as fuck was ROBBY. At least Sam had the OPTION to leave. Robby was MADE. AND SURE, HE GETS THE SPONSORSHIP BULLSHIT TOO, BUT WHAT A STUPID DEUS EX MACHINA. And that whole thing about Robby being happy he doesn't need to win, because he has his Family? With Johnny? Shut the fuck up.

Robby coming in to save the day by conveniently daying I wuv you~ to Tory. Fuck you all I hate this fucking show.

ON A HAPPIER NOTE, Miguel's feels more fleshed out and satisfying as a whole. Mayyybe the flashbacks did hit 🙄🙄🙄 Miguel's progression, while it's had its stalls, remains one of the stronger parts of Cobra Kai as a whole, and Miguel's journey culminating into proving himself against Axel and going to his dream college, having grown so much as a person with what he's learned in karate and in life, did pull on my heartstrings. And regardless of everything else, Miguel and Johnny's relationship felt strong from the start and until the end.

You knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I was fucking obsessed with the archival footage you knowwwwwwwww

Ralph Macchio and William Zabka were acting their asses off in scenes that otherwise pissed me off

AND YOU KNOW WHAT, KREESE AND SILVER'S DEATH PISSED ME OFF TOO. I can't even formulate the reasons why I find their deaths so unsatisfying, but MAN WHAT THE HELL. The closest I could approximate is just the utter bullshit that is Kreese's redemption arc — NOW is when he realizes the harm he's caused? NOW is when he's going back and apologizing to the people he's hurt? NOW Kreese is the one to do the noble act of killing himself and Silver? Come the fuck ON. I don't even think I'm mad that it's come so late, but that it feels so rushed and contrived to get Kreese and Silver out of the story as quick as possible (WHICH IS A HUGE ISSUE FOR COBRA KAI AS A WHOLE). AND THE FACT THAT NOBODY REALLY REFLECTS UPON THEM MISSING? I SUPPOSE THE OTHER CHARACTERS SORT OF KNEW, BUT NO THOUGHTS? NOTHING? THESE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE MANIPULATED SO MANY, THAT HAVE HURT AND MADE OTHERS HURT, THAT KEEP THESE CHARACTERS IN A CAGE OF TRAUMA — JUST FUCK OFF AND DIE??

AND YOU KNOW WHAT, JOHNNY BREAKING DOWN TO KREESE WHAT HE DID WRONG ALSO MADE ME MAD. Because you know what, Kreese WAS there to be Johnny's role model and he DID teach him strength. And Kreese abused Johnny, poisoned his mind, and want to kill and keep killing him. And it's all connected and the same fist that represented strength is the same fist that beat Johnny down. And I'm so mad that Johnny is angry at Kreese for abandoning him when Kreese had been choking Johnny on a leash, dragging him to throw him into the street. He abandoned you and suffocated you. What the FUCK, Cobra Kai

Idk man I wish I could be happy about Johnny bringing back Cobra Kai. But this EXACT issue has been like this from the beginning, that it's not specifically the NAME or whether it's Johnny or Kreese or Silver or Kim teaching. It's the fact that Cobra Kai, since its inception, is a product of a jingoistic, militaristic fighting technique FROM A US VETERAN that breeds violence and cruelty for the sake of domination and name. I know Cobra Kai (the show) has tried to distance the dojo into being more connected to Korean Tang Soo Do, but it's so fucking frustrating that they'll ignore the dojo's roots in the American Military and specifically American imperialism of Kreese's direct influence because they don't think it's a bad thing!!! I can say so much about how I dislike the the attempt to distance Cobra Kai from Kreese, but ohhh my godddd

Daniel and Johnny 🙃 Mr. Miyagi 🙃🙃

First of all, the AI was ugly as shit

Second of all, the necklace arc coming down to a misunderstanding is aggravating but whatever an immigrant man framed as a criminal sure fucking whatever man. The fact that it's taken this show six seasons to mention the injustice Japanese-Americans suffered through by the American government detaining them under racist suspicion is fucking awful.

Third of all, in spite of Cobra Kai and Daniel carrying the legacy of Mr. Miyagi after his (and Pat Morita's) death, Mr. Miyagi does not feel like an echoed presence in the show. Perhaps this would have been too much to ask for, considering Johnny is the main character, and Cobra Kai needs to have its own identity outside of The Karate Kid in some way. However, the lack of presence (and I don't mean physical) of Mr. Miyagi to me is deafening in its silence. Of all the characters coming back to the Cobra Kai, the one that feels most absent is Mr. Miyagi. How does that absence make its place in the narrative? Do viewers feel his absence? Are they looking back to what Mr. Miyagi taught? Are they missing on his presence? Can they feel what they missed? I don't know if this makes sense, but I'm just thinking about the last of Cobra Kai and their defining legacy on the people who've watched, and those who could have gone through all of Cobra Kai and not cared about Mr. Miyagi. Ughghhggg.

Daniel saying "Cobra Kai never dies" makes me wish I die

Daniel this whole fucking part is just a mess. That dream??? Him manifesting as Kreese??? I can't even express how tired I was of this show. Don't even started on the fucking Cobra Kai gi.

There's so much I hadn't covered: half the cast being missing because Cobra Kai doesn't know how to stop making too many characters to have satisfying presences, the difference in depth between Axel and Zara, the way this show completely bypasses almost all its Asian characters, Chozen getting with Kim are you kidding me, All of Kim really, Laura's grave having the most egregious continuity error I've seen, Binary Boyfriends, etc., but I'm so tired and I hate this show.

It's been a shitshow. I love you all. Goodnight.

[cnwolf-brainrot]

Ok adding on more to my ideas for a Kai-centric live action Ninjago because I have more thoughts, so here's some things that I would like to see in relation to the base plot:

As mentioned in my last post, this would be early-Ninjago based, mostly just adapting season one and the pilots. However, we're thinking about this as a two-hour movie, so it isn't going to have the time that a full season would. I'm also thinking about this as part of a duology because there is no way that (provided the first movie doesn't COMPLETELY suck) Lego won't do a sequel to capitalize on the new medium and marketability

With that being said, I would ignore the serpentine for this first live action film. The villains would be Garmadon and the skeleton army, led by Samukai (underrated villain in my books). This could also save us from some terrible CGI snakes; I think the skeleton army would translate better to live action than the serpentine would

Like I mentioned in my last post, the baseline plot would be the ninja collecting the Golden Weapons. It's a very rushed plot line in the show since it happens in the pilots, which means there's a lot of room to explore and develop it without being too much of a direct comparison to how it's done in the show. In addition, it gives a great chance to give each of the ninja their own focus, unlike the Lego Ninjago Movie which really only gives character development to Lloyd.

I'm going back and forth with this, but as of now I'm thinking that Nya does get kidnapped by the skeleton army like she does in the original pilots. However, instead of her playing the damsel in distress role like she is in the pilots, she gets more of her season one characterization and gets to go on her own subplot of breaking out of imprisonment and she's the first one to meet Lloyd

So like halfway through the movie the ninja are on their way to one of the Golden Weapons that Garmadon is about to grab and they basically run right past Nya, who's running away from a skeleton hoard that she'd managed to singlehandedly escape with a new little brother in tow.

Throughout the movie the characters are told that they have elemental powers inside of them that can be channeled by their weapons, not controlled by them. As each ninja gets their weapon they unlock their powers, and all the ninja kind of use their powers through their weapons... until the climax scene, where Kai is the first one to use his element without having to touch the sword (kind of doing the "true potential" moment without calling it that)

It would actually be kind of cool if the weapons weren't named after their elements in this version and the ninja don't find out what their element is until they get to use it for the first time. Like they go after the Golden Scythe and none of them have any clue what it'll do until Cole grabs it and then can suddenly make earthquakes. Like, theoretically if Jay had been the one to grab the Scythe, then it would have channeled his lightning and been a Scythe of Lightning... could also lead to a lot of foreshadowing about other elemental masters existing, since I don't think they had initially planned that with the first two seasons and it always made it a little weird to me that the Special Golden Weapons Of All Creation TM were tied specifically to these four random dudes. The Golden Weapons channel any element, the ninja just all have their preference of which one they use lol

we should drop some foreshadowing about the Megaweapon too, I think that would be great material for a second movie if we make collecting the Golden Weapons a big part of the first one

Having the Golden Weapon Quest TM as the central plot for the movie is also great because it gives the villain a reason to be doing something too. I'm scared of the live action movie that gets released having a one-dimensional Garmadon who just... is evil... and does evil... No. Here, he actually had a reason to be doing his evil things; he wants to remake Ninjago in his own image, and he needs the Golden Weapons to do so. Thus, collection competition.

OH and speaking of motivation, that's why I think I'd like Nya to be kidnapped in this still. It gives Kai a good reason to look at the old guy who showed up on his doorstep and said "hey want to join my super special fight club?" and say "ABSOLUTELY YES". I would love for this movie to give us a good older brother Kai to both Nya and Lloyd, so this would be a great foundational motivation to get him going along with the Plot

[katsmtmsdoodles]

what inspired you to write ITE?

in the Ninjago series harumi is angry at Lloyd because she though he was the reason te great devour killed her real family, but in your fanfic is it different? why she's so mad at Lloyd?

the reason because misako left garmadon is similar to the reason of Koko, in the movie?

the war of serpentine actually happened in ITE? and the previous elements did collaborate with eachother versus the anacondrai? did garmadon knew the parents of the ninja team like in the series?

we know in ITE of only one Golden weapon (the fire blade)..what about the other ones?

what role has the FMS in ITE? did he have a wife?

your work is amazing btw. can't wait for the sequel <3

1. There is this ONE SPECIFIC art on Pinterest that is, like, a million years old and I saw it once, haven't found it since that was pretty simple, but the comment on it vaguely referenced Kai's duty to protect Lloyd + mentioned an Emperor Garmadon. In the comments of that post, it was mentioned that the AUs were "popular in other languages." That was two years ago 😂 I was so sad I didn't find the AU when I went on Ao3, so I solved that problem lol.

2. Harumi hates Lloyd for how much Garmadon loves him. That's it. He's her biggest obstacle in getting what she wants. At first, when he was still falling for her manipulations, she was neutral. She just tattled on him that one night to curry Garmadon's faith in her. But then he started actively trying to ruin her chances with Garmadon and it pissed her off.

3. No spoilers for Misako + Garmadon! You'll see in S&S (:

4. No, the serpentine war did not happen in this AU because Garmadon took over before it could happen! If he hadn't, the course of events would have roughly been the same as canon. No, Garmadon was never friends with the ninjas parents, but [REDACTED]. Covered in S&S (;

5. The rest of the ninja still have their golden weapons, they're kept very lowkey to protect them and only get pulled out for big threats. However, they did not use them in their fight at Shadowspire because, you guessed it, [REDACTED] lol

6. FMS is the reason Garmadon's the way he is.

THANK YOU for your lovely words!! I hope you continue to enjoy! <3

[pharawee]

Rose's Day of Asks - the sequel

Hi! My question for you... Which actors do you wish would get cast in a bl as a lead? and with what partner, if you have any in mind?

Have a wonderful night. Rose❤️

Hi Rose, thank you so much for your question! I hope you feel better already. 💜💜💜

There's so many actors I'd love to finally see as the lead in a BL - mostly solo actors because they started their acting careers as side characters, love rivals or villains so there's so much potential to pair them with other fresh faces.

Someone who immediately comes to mind (surprising, I know lmao) is Winner Tanatat because I love him dearly and he's reliably been stealing the show for me wherever he pops up. He's basically taken Big Thanakorn's place on top of the third wheel podium now that Big FINALLY got his well-deserved main role.

I also can't believe domundi have been sleeping on Poppy Ratchapong for so long. Yes, he's talented and funny but have you considered giving Poppy a boyfriend?? Maybe make it Nont Intanont because they both looked really good in Nont's MV for ธรรมดาที่ไหน:

Then again, domundi have also been sleeping on Mark Sorntast until recently when he's been looking like that FOR YEARS.

And gmmtv isn't much better. I mean, Papang Phromphiriya exists. I know I'm not alone in wanting him as the lead in a BL (or any show, really, just give me more Papang I'm begging you gmmtv 😭).

I'm also very partial to Kay Lertsittichai but gmmtv seem to have firmly typecast him as the villain now. Which is an injustice (I like his villains though - they're very pathetic and wet).

Same with idolfactory and Heng Asavarid. Someone free these men from their status as morally questionable side characters!

Unpopular opinion time but this scene with Heng and Nat Sakdatorn in The Sign stole the whole show for me. The things I'd do for more HengNat. 🫠

Then there's Kokliang Parinya who's posting the most beautiful photoshoots on his insta EVERY DAMN WEEK yet somehow he's not been the lead in a BL even once. That man's a medical doctor ffs please someone cast him as the leading man. 🙏

I also need justice for Non Ratchanon (even though he's been in a short story compilation by Director Golf and in a few other things like The Rebound but that just shows how well he can act) and I'd love to see him as the lead in a fully-fledged 12 episode BL.

The same goes for Bank Chanwut. I MEAN JUST LOOK AT HIM (and imagine what could have been if 9NAA didn't mess up Beyond the Star).

And I generally don't understand how Rossi Nonthakorn isn't everywhere after On Cloud Nine (yes technically he was playing the lead here and in another shortform series along with Non Ratchanon but that's not the same innit).

This is getting far too long already but I can't believe I almost forgot about Boss Thawatchanin who can do cute and, uh, whatever else that was with Gap Jakarin in Norrasing (but, really, I don't mind, give me more GapBoss):

And what about Na Naphat? He made me like Tawan in Kinnporsche (he did everything wrong and I love him) AND WE WERE PROMISED NA AND FIAT PATCHATA IN WISH ME LUCK!!

There's really so many other actors that I'd love to see in the spotlight in their own series. Like JJFong in a proper show where they aren't relegated to comic relief. Or JJUs now that they're freed from BOC's basement. Or PromMark because they've been trying to sail their ship for years now (and they recorded a song together that's still one of my faves) but maybe we'll finally get lucky in Jack & Joker. 🤞

[sweeter-innocence-fics]

Surviving New York - Chapter Seven

Pairing: Pietro Maximoff x Reader

Work Summary: 

Sequel to Surviving Sokovia. You survived the destruction of your home country of Sokovia, but the Avengers compound presents its own set of challenges.

Series Masterlist

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2020

Read on AO3.

Masterlists.

Taglist: @mcximffs @noz4a2 @rottenstyx @starmansirius @xlucyintheskywithdiamondsx @lanemarvels @marrigold-2002 @kathrinchek @alternativeprincess @annocaprosmaloka @thrutheburnout @idkman5335 @mrs-kai-anderson @ang3l1te @missryerye

Taglist info

Previous Chapter

Notes: warnings for low self esteem, depression, mental illness etc. they're working through it, guys

---

Hours later, you and Pietro were walking side by side back to your room. He could’ve had you both there in a split second, but the two of you had made the silent agreement to walk. The back of your hand occasionally brushed against his. It was a familiar and comforting warmth.

The plan was set. You knew where Hydra had taken Olek. Now you just had to wait until morning.

You didn’t know how you were supposed to sleep, knowing that your son was still in danger, but Steve had insisted that you try.

You had tried to persuade the Avengers to leave now, but that idea had been shot down. Half of the team were in no fighting shape right now. It wouldn’t help Olek if Hydra managed to kill you all before you reached him.

Pietro hadn’t slept in 36 hours. He looked utterly exhausted. Both of you needed to be at your best.

And you weren’t much of a fighter. You didn’t have the combat training that Pietro and the rest of the team had, but you had used your powers to save your own life several times.

You’d also killed more people than Pietro ever had. In fact, Pietro had never killed anyone. His role, more often than not, was evacuating civilians. You had only killed people when cornered, and with Pietro’s powers, it was hard to corner him.

Some of the Avengers hadn’t been all that keen on you coming along on the mission at all. You were, for all intents and purposes, a civilian. You had bared your teeth at that, ready to growl and snap like a dog, but Pietro had said, “We are doing this to rescue our son. If she wants to come, then she’s coming.”

You had been thankful for that. You had been worried that he might agree with them. After all, they were right. You would be a liability. But you couldn’t not go. You had to get Olek back. You felt like you would start peeling off your own skin if they tried to keep you from this.

Pietro had a history of being a little overprotective of you, but he seemed to see the wild look in your eyes, and understand what you needed. That was nice. It had been a while since you’d felt like you’d truly been understood.

Neither of you spoke when you got back to your room. You had expected Pietro to go straight to bed, as exhausted as he was, but instead, he sat down heavily on the sofa, his arms spread out across its back.

You sat down beside him, facing him with one knee tucked beneath you. “{Thank you for backing me up back there},” you said, “{I don’t know what I would do with myself if I couldn’t go tomorrow}.”

“{I’ll always back you up},” said Pietro, slightly vacantly. He was staring at a spot on the wall, his mind clearly far away.

“{You should get some rest}.”

“{Right}.”

Neither of you moved. The only sound in the room was the quiet ticking of the wall clock as the minutes crept by.

You watched Pietro’s face. He didn’t look at you. The dark circles under his eyes aged him, but his eyes looked like those of a child. You reached out and cupped his stubbled cheek, and finally he turned to look at you.

He looked as though he was going to say something, but you got there first.

“{Why aren’t you angry with me?}” you whispered, afraid of the answer but tired of not knowing.

His eyebrows drew together, his handsome face lined with concern. “{Because this isn’t your fault. We’ve been over this}.”

You shook your head. “{I fucked up. Over and over again. I pushed you away and I let Jake get too close and he took our baby}.” Your breath hitched and your vision began to blur with tears. “{You should leave me. You should’ve left me a long time ago}.”

“{What?!}” Now, for the first time since Olek had been taken, Pietro sounded angry. “{What are you talking about?}”

Letting out a disbelieving sigh, you looked up into his face. He was staring at you, confusion written across his features.

“{Come on, Piet. Look at you. Look at me. The only reason we ever made sense was because I was the only girl you knew who wasn’t your sister}.” He stuttered over a protest, looking offended, but you pushed on. “{I don’t know how things would’ve gone if I hadn’t been pregnant. But I did get pregnant. And you got stuck with me. You’d be happier without me. We both know that}.”

He let out a couple of choked off noises before finally bursting out with “{That’s not true!}”. He had one hand on his chest, clutching over his own heart, like your words had punched a hole right through him. It hurt to look at. All you wanted was for him to be happy. You couldn’t believe that he’d be happy to stay with you forever. “{I’m not stuck with you},” he said, “{I love you}.”

You rubbed your eyes. They were starting to ache from crying. You hated how hard Pietro was making this. You were trying to give him an escape. Why couldn’t he see that?

“{You have the world at your fingertips, Piet. You can have anything. But you’ve got me because you’re too much of a gentleman to abandon to mother of your child. I’m trying to tell you that it’s okay, Piet}.” It felt like there wasn’t enough air in your lungs, but you kept pushing until it burned. “{If you want something else. Someone else. A different life. One where you’re not shackled to me just because we used to be trapped in a cage together}.”

In a blink, you were pinned to the edge of the sofa, your wrists held together in one of Pietro’s hands. His other hand was holding onto your waist.

“{If you don’t love me, then just say so},” he said through gritted teeth. “{Don’t try to make it out like you’re doing this for me. If you want to leave, you can leave. It’ll break my heart but I would never keep you somewhere you didn’t want to be}.” He released your wrists. You could tell he was waiting for you to push him away.

“{That’s what I’m trying to say to you. I don’t want to leave. I love you. I want you. But I also want you to be happy}.”

Pietro cupped your face in both of his hands. His body was still tense, muscles coiled tight.

“{We could be happy},” he said. His thumb rubbed over your cheekbone, swiping away the tears there. “{You said I could have anything? Well, I don’t want the world. I just want you}.”

“{Pietro, you’ve barely touched me since Olek was born. How am I supposed to believe that you want me when- Ah-}” You let out a gasp as Pietro sunk his teeth into your neck. You flailed for a moment, but your hands ended up in his hair, holding him against you. Short, shuddery breaths fell from your lips as heat lanced through your whole body. It had been far too long since you’d felt like this.

After a moment, he let you go, pressing soothing kisses over the bitemark. You squeezed your eyes shut, letting the sensation of his lips on your skin wash over you.

“{My sweet girl},” Pietro murmured, “{You are my world, but you’re also a fool}.” He pulled back to look you in the eyes. “{You really thought I didn’t want you?}”

“{I- We- We haven’t had sex since Olek was born}.”

He sighed softly, his eyes sad. “{I was trying to go slowly for your sake}.”

“{What?}” you breathed. His hand slid under your t-shirt, over your stomach to reach your waist.

“{My love}.” He closed his eyes, huffing out a laugh. “{You’d just given birth. We had escaped Hydra, who forced us to have sex with each other. The last thing I wanted was to put pressure on you, if you weren’t ready}.”

“{Piet...}” You blinked, your vision swimming with tears. You were so stupid. All this time, you’d thought that Pietro didn’t want you. You’d created a narrative in your head and let it wrap around you until it consumed you. A sharp, hysterical laugh slipped from your lips. “{I’m so sorry}.”

“{You should’ve told me that you felt this way},” he said.

“{You’re right. I should’ve}.” More reasons to blame yourself. More reasons to hate yourself.

Pietro gripped your chin, forcing you to look him in the eyes. “{None of that. I can see you overthinking. So stop thinking. Let me show you how much I want you}.”

You could only nod. He pressed his face into your neck and inhaled deeply. Your eyes fluttered closed.

You let him pull your t-shirt off over your head. Your heart was hammering in your chest. His eyes were on you – your breasts, your stomach, your hips – roving over you with such reverence.

Of course, your body had changed with pregnancy and birth. You sagged in places that you hadn’t before. You had stretch marks and stomach rolls and hormones had wreaked havoc on your skin.

Pietro didn’t seem to care. He kissed you as he unhooked your bra, and then pressed his face between your breasts as it fell away. You let out a hiss of pain as he thumbed over your nipple, and he drew back.

“{What’s wrong?}” he asked.

“{They’re oversensitive. From breastfeeding}.” Your mind went back to Olek and a shudder went through you. Before you knew what was happening, you were crying.

Pietro wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into his lap. One hand was firmly rubbing against your bare back.

“{It’s okay, my love},” he murmured. “{It’s going to be okay}.” You wished you could believe him. You were terrified of what would happen if you failed tomorrow. You couldn’t lose Olek. You just couldn’t.

You buried your face into Pietro’s neck and cried. He leant his head against yours. You could tell from the hitching of his breath that he was crying too. You stroked his cheek, trying to soothe him the way he was soothing you, and you felt his shoulders relax.

*

You weren’t sure how long you stayed like that, curled up in each other’s arms, but at one point you must’ve fallen asleep. You woke up with Pietro carrying you to bed.

“{I need to brush my teeth},” you said blearily, so he redirected to the bathroom.

As he set you down on your feet, you realised that you were still shirtless. Pietro’s eyes lingered on your breasts, and you felt your face begin to flush with heat.  

You stood in front of the mirror, brushing your teeth, and Pietro joined you. Side by side, you were almost touching, but not quite. In the mirror, Pietro flashed you a grin that made your insides churn with want. All at once, you were a married couple, and you were teenagers experiencing their first brush with romance.

When you bent over to spit your toothpaste into the sink, Pietro put a hand on your lower back to steady you, and it sent a jolt of electricity up your spine. Your aching nipples hardened in anticipation as he slid his hand down the curve of your ass and squeezed.

You straightened up and Pietro took his turn to spit out his toothpaste.

“{I meant what I said before, you know},” he murmured as you washed your face. “{I want you. This isn’t about loyalty, or doing the honourable thing. When we’re apart I think about you all the time. I miss your touch. You mean everything to me}.”

You turned to him, but he was bending down over the sink again to splash water onto his face. You put your hand on his shoulder, feeling the firm muscles there.

Your eyes met his in the mirror as you said, “{Show me}.”

Next Chapter

[fishyishy]

A3! Translation - Settsu Banri SSR 【Autumn Troupe Performance Announcement】 「MANKAI Company Announces Sequel Performance ~Autumn Troupe~」 (1/3)

--------------------------

Juza: "Don't blame others"

Banri: "That should be my line"

Banri: Oi, Hyodo. I told you this the other day. You're saying this line too confrontational. I think it'd be better if it was delivered lighter here.

Juza: If it's lighter, the personality won't come across. On the contrary, you jus' brush things off too lightly.

Banri: Haaa? You bastard--- just think about it! You've gotta consider the flow and the relationships from the previous scene too---!

Juza: If you wanna talk about relationships! Then you're the one who should be thinking about them!

Taichi: You two sure are heating up again today! It's going like sparky sparky!

Azami: At this point, things like this just feel like a regular clashes.

Sakyo: For god's sake... Well, I guess it's good that they're getting enthusiastic about it.

Director: (That's true, even with that threatening exchange, it's just the two of them trying to seriously convey their clashing wills to each other)

Director: (In contrast, it's the Autumn Troupe's signature style that makes this relieving to watch)

Director: It's almost time to take a break. Let's take a short one.

Omi: Good work, everyone. The quiche is ready~.

Taichi: Omi-kun, nice timing!! We were just talking about taking a short break.

Omi: Ah, that makes me glad. Please eat some quiche to replenish your power.

Juza: ......Kay. Thank you for this meal.

Azami: .......Delicious.

Director: Yup, it really is! It's super delicious.

Banri: Today's snack feels more elaborate, doesn't it?

Omi: Haha, you could tell? I put a bit more effort into the pie crust and filling than usual.

Taichi: It's suuperr delicious~! Eating it definitely gives me a lot of feel good energy!!

Sakyo: Dewey's role this time is more specific, but it's helpful having his support in various training sessions in ways like this.

Omi: No, no. I'm having fun doing this too. I'm happy to be helpful in areas other than acting as well.

Omi: Oh yeah, now that I think about it, we also need some photos of the rehearsal studio for our Inste promotion.

Omi: I'll take a picture of us eating quiche during our break. Juza, Azami, time for a picture~.

*camera clicks*

Sakyo: In addition to filming it, once part of the stage set is complete, they'll probably be filming a promotional video on the theater's stage.

Juza: Spring and Summer Troupe did that too.

Director: Yeah, I talked to Tetsuro-san about that the other day.

Director: We decided to shoot at Luciano and Lansky's Jack of All Trades office set, which is the first to be completed.

Banri: Is this their 2-person office that'll become their new base of operations after leaving the Capone family?

Juza: I'm really looking forward to performing there.

Banri: .....That's right.

------------------

I next

[beanieman]

I meant to ask this yesterday but what role would you give the yttd cast in a horror movie?

Sara Chidouin - Sara is the final girl who you know going into the film is going to survive. She's the face of all the posters and promotional material, and you aren't shocked when she escapes at the end…until the sequel.

Joe Tazuna - Like in the game, Joe's role is the final girl's best friend. He ALMOST escapes with Sara, only to be killed meters from freedom. It's sad, but it needed to happen so the final girl could go ape-shit.

Gin Ibushi - Gin is the cute family pet that you're terrified is going to die eventually. Hopefully he is fine.

Keiji Shinogi - Keiji is the useless cop. The final girl runs up to him, saying a killer is chasing her, and he goes, "Well jolly gee, nothing I can do about that. Try to find a random seventeen-year-old to help you."

More Undercut

Alice Yabusame - Alice is the "slapstick victim" that dies a ridiculous death. The scene might not even mean to come off as funny, but the death scene is so weirdly acted/directed/written that it's more amusing than scary.

Reko Yabusame - Reko is the random celebrity cameo that makes you check IMDB to make sure that the actor you think is in this movie is actually in this movie.

Nao Egokoro - Nao is the surprise final girl. It seemed like someone else would take that role, and Nao would just be a throwaway victim, but instead, she defeats the monster and rides off heroically into the sunset. Much to the audience's surprise.

Kazumi Mishima - Mishima is the side character who has a random amount of knowledge for the simple reason that he's a professor. Like the final girl finds him and he goes "Why yes! I do know about that random murder in 1890 that is driving this films plot!" and that is his only purpose in the plot.

Q-taro Burgerberg - Q-Taro is the person who leaves someone to die at the start of the film for his survival, only to die in a heroic sacrifice that lets the final girl escape the main villain.

Kai Satou - Kai is the red-herring. The movie wants you to believe that he's the monster/killer so badly it becomes clear that there's going to be a twist.

Kanna Kizuchi - Kanna is the kid who gets kidnapped in the final act so the protagonist has a reason why they have to stay behind looking for her instead of escaping.

Shin Tsukimi - Shin is not in the movie because he left the second things started getting weird.

Dolls

Ranmaru Kageyama - Ranmaru is the twist killer who was a getting a weird amount of screentime despite not seeming THAT important to the narrative.

Naomichi Kurumada - Naomichi is the guy who tries to take a leader role over the group as they try to survive, only to get overconfident and die trying to fight a ghost.

Anzu Kinashi - Anzu is that victim that trips and instead of getting up goes "NO! NO! DON'T KILL ME!" as if the serial killer has a higher chance of stopping if she's screaming on the ground rather than if she just got back up and ran.

Mai Tsurugi - Mai is the person that you're convinced is going to be the final girl but then she's killed really unexpectedly. She stabs the killer and runs, but then he teleports in front of her and kills her.

Shunsuke Hayasaka - Shunsuke is the random guy killed because the film didn't feel like the kill count was high enough. He has no name or personality, he's just there to give blood.

Hinako Mishuku - She's the unnerving child that you aren't surprised to learn is possessed by a demon.

[criticalpraisefilm]

Alien: Romulus - first impressions

There are, off the top of my head, two major sci-fi franchises where the first movie was a straight up horror, and the second skewed more towards action, in which the popular opinion is that the action sequel is the better movie. In the case of both Alien and Terminator, people in my experience generally prefer the action heavy sequels. I, however, in both cases, prefer the original. This opinion is not heretical, but is not often agreed upon, but it does mean that I will never complain about Alien going back to straight horror, and oh boy does Romulus go for horror.

The movie presents three sets of orphaned siblings: Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is a miner who looks after her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a reprogrammed synthetic; Tyler (Archie Renaux), Rain's ex-boyfriend and his sister Kay (Isabela Merced); and finally Tyler and Kay's cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and his adopted sister Navarro (Aileen Wu). After Rain's attempts to get herself and Andy away from the miserable world they live on are thwarted by a forcibly extended work contract, she teams up with the others to raid a decommisioned space station and steal cyrosleep pods to get them to paradise. Unfortunately the space station was decommisioned after it retrieved remains from the wreck of the Nostromo from the first movie, so naturally there are deadly aliens aboard and things go south, leading to the team having to find a way to escape with the help of the station's half-dead medical officer Rook (Daniel Betts), while being hunted by facehuggers and Xenomorphs.

Okay I'm getting this out of the way now: deepfaked Ian Holm as the physical presence of Rook is weird and distracting and pointless and dystopian. Not even death can get movie studios to stop you reprising your role time and time again for nostalgia's sake. I hate it. Moving on.

While we're on the negativity train, let's start with the biggest problem, which is that while Rain and Andy get plenty of development and scenes to make us feel for them and build tension when they're threatened, nobody else really gets that. They get moments to show that they're people with lives, but it's mostly just small things: praying while taking off into space, or doing silly tricks with gravity while taking off into space, or getting sick while taking off into space because they're secretly pregnant. In fact, the takeoff into space scene does quite a lot to show us that these people have rich inner lives and personalities. It's really the only scene that does that.

There is an attempt at banter between the characters, but it's mostly quite shallow. One character is consistently unpleasant to Andy because he doesn't like synthetics, and another character tells us it's because a synthetic made a decision that killed his parents. He doesn't really get any other character traits, and any horror movie needs an unpleasant character we don't like to be the first victim and establish the stakes and the scares, but nobody else gets much after the first couple scenes either. Truth be told, I didn't realise that Rain and Tyler were supposed to be ex-partners while watching the movie, because I missed the dialogue in the very noisy beginning establishing that and nothing about their businesslike and perfunctory interactions throughout the rest of the movie gave me that impression. We care about the people because they're people, but we're given no reason to connect to one character besides the fact that she's pregnant, and she has little personality outside of that.

Rain, Tyler and Andy get the best of it, but Tyler is mostly practical besides a few moments, and Andy spends much of the movie with his personality being overwritten by a module that grants him power, but forces him to prioritise the interests of the company over his friends and family. A good indication of the company valuing profit and property over people's lives and safety, and a rather effective exploration of the theme of capitalism ruining everything, certainly, but not something that endears you to the character.

When Rain puts herself in danger to save her brother, despite having spent much of the movie hiding a pretty major secret from him, and her brother having spent much of the movie putting her friends in danger for profit (granted against his will) the decision seems noble, but not built up to, since the movie has gone out of its way to show us how unpleasant Andy is now. I don't disagree with the decision, but maybe more indications on how her brother is still in there throughout the movie would have worked better than the likeable character being completely subsumed by the character we hate would have worked better.

Okay, negativity over, and despite my ranting I did really like the movie because it does a good job with the tension and the scares and really does a great job at selling how deadly and terrifying the xenomorphs are. Quickly establishing how many extremely prepared people on the space station were annihilated by a single xenomorph, the movie, once in the dangerous situation, does a wonderful job in rapid escalation, putting characters in danger, tearing the group dynamic apart due to the stress and different priorities, only to then make everything fall apart by tearing someone's chest open because, well, that's what these aliens do, and it's terrifying. The effects work is spectacular and the character/creature work on the creatures is gorgeously scary. I spent half of the movie with my hand over my mouth, both because of the tension (and there are a few cheap jumpscares, I'll say, but most of the scares are well earned and very effective) and because of the horrifying imagery.

While everyone else is just sort of there, our main protagonist is likeable, reacts in interesting and believable and mostly intelligent ways to the bad situation she's in, and we want to see her do well, which makes it very tense when she's about to get got by one of the multiple horrifying creatures stalking her and her friends throughout the setting, and Cailee Spaeny sells every moment. She really is the standout here, and her slow evolution comes across less as arbitrary action heroine-fication and more like desensitisation: by the end of the movie she's seen enough horrors that the thing she's staring down now seems less scary, but no less threatening, and you never lose the sense that this character you want to succeed is in just so much danger at all times, which makes her decision to put herself in more danger to help her friends make her even more noble and makes you want to see her succeed, especially juxtaposed with the somewhat selfish place she started from.

I'll admit I've spent more time on the negative than the positive here. It's strange that the criticisms are somewhat more interesting to talk about. The praise is perhaps generic praise for a good Alien movie, but this is a really good Alien movie with some characterisation issues sprinkled throughout. Basic, perhaps, but if you're going into an Alien movie looking for sci-fi horror, it gives you what you want.

Oh and the turn the movie takes in the third act is gross and I love it so much. Extremely good and distressing imagery on display here, it's awful and it's amazing.

[hollywoodoutbreak]

The Karate Kid franchise is a cultural landmark, far more than just a film and TV series. Generations have been enthralled with this saga since the classic 1984 original, followed by four sequels, a 2010 reboot featuring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and the popular show Cobra Kai. Today, the legacy advances with Karate Kid: Legends, a much-awaited new sequel featuring cherished stars and a promising newcomer.

Jackie Chan reprises his role as Mr. Han, co-starring with Ralph Macchio as the legendary Daniel LaRusso. Rising star Ben Wang joins them, taking the lead as Li Fong. The movie's premise is classic Karate Kid with a modern twist: after kung fu prodigy Li Fong relocates to New York City, a local karate champion immediately notices him. To navigate this new obstacle, Li Fong embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate tournament, guided by none other than Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso.

Ben Wang, born in 2000 (nearly two decades after the original film!), brings a fresh perspective to the franchise. He expressed immense enthusiasm for the role, having grown up watching the movies like so many of us (making some of us feel a little old!). For Wang, it's more than just a role; it's an honor to continue such a cherished story.

Karate Kid: Legends is now playing in movie theaters.

[modismod]

Done with Yo-Kai watch 2 boner souls and it a sequel that improved everything and added so much more, it’s really odd I hated the passive rpgs back when this got release (2016 I think) but the amount of control and interesting skill designs made this so addictive and the role you played during combat did a good job at making you feel like tamer or leader, what surprised me was this game being part of the Japanese boy enjoying his endless summer vacation genre of video games or a Boku no Natsuyasumi. I already did some of the post game and it’s soo much and I actually want to do it I have so many yokais I want to use and soo many hidden bosses

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 15: PAINFUL RE:BAKE - Episode 5: Rekindling The Flame

Banri: Come over here when y��all are done stretching.

Taichi: ‘Kay!

Azami: Are we finally doing the read-through?

Banri: (Everyone’s rippin’ the script to shreds, leavin’ sticky notes and dog-earin’ the corners. We could easily start a proper read-through now, but…)

Banri: (... It’s not the time for that yet.)

Banri: Thanks to Tsuzuru, we’ve got lots of time till the first performance this time around.

Banri: He probably got started early out of consideration for me and Hyodo, who’ve had a guest appearance with Hyakka scheduled for a while now. 

Banri: When it comes down to it, we’ll hafta miss a bunch of practice sessions and performances.

Banri: Now would be a good time to start readin’ through the script in preparation for that, and then immediately begin prepping for the mise-en-scène and performance.

Banri: … But we ain’t doin’ that this time.

Taichi: Whuh?

Juza: Whaddya mean?

Banri: In this 3Q, we gotta do everything we can to increase the rank that the Spring and Summer Troupes passed onto us.

Banri: Rankin’ up’s gonna be harder than ever now that the tier is full of high leveled players.

Banri: And, regardless of our ranking, I want to make the sequel of our most important debut so damn good that it’ll stand up to Spring and Summer’s.

Banri: Each and every time, our role as the Autumn Troupe, who always comes third in performances… is to create somethin’ that’ll surpass the two troupes that come before us.

Banri: And to make the Winter Troupe, who come after, want to surpass us.

Banri: Honestly, our performances’ quality so far has been pretty solid.

Banri: While stackin’ experience as an assistant director, I’ve become able to view the performances of many troupes objectively, and I’d say our level is on the higher end.

Banri: … But, y’know… Are we really okay with settlin’ for being solid?

Juza: ——

Banri: All our performances up to our tenth one have been stuff we could be proud of.

Banri: But, as we reach the milestone of our eleventh one and return to our roots with Picaresque, I think we oughta break this stability of ours.

Banri: And take this chance to create a new version of our Autumn Troupe.

Banri: Both the Spring Troupe and the Summer Troupe evolved a step further after their members grew individually.

Banri: Us Autumn Troupe oughta each have a wall we gotta break through this time.

Banri: … 'Cause if we don’t, that’d mean that this is our limit.

Juza: Hell no.

Azami: Ain’t no way this is how far we can go.

Taichi: Right! Spring and Summer grew ‘cause they weren’t satisfied with where they were before! That’s gotta be the same for us, too!

Sakyo: Yeah. We can’t afford to stop in our tracks before we can pass the baton to the Winter Troupe.

Omi: We have to keep going forward and break any walls ahead of us in a way that suits us as the Autumn Troupe.

Banri: You said it. I want us to challenge ourselves in ways that’ll prove that we’re nowhere near our limit yet.

Banri: Challenge ourselves in ways that will lead to a formative experience and break us out of our shells, the way our “Portraits” did. 

Banri: We definitely had something like a beginner’s impulse lightin’ a fire in us. Both during our debut, and when Azami joined us during UNDEAD.

Banri: Each of us hit a wall, and yet kept movin’ forward… Even if it meant doin’  it while crawling through unbearable pain.

Banri: But thanks to that, we were all able to change, and put on the best possible performances.

Banri: So, now too, let’s go through all the pain we can, and overcome it in ways that make us realize they were just growing pains.

Banri: I better not see a single one of you slack off on this. We all gotta start this the same way, and surpass it the same way.

Banri: Light that fire within yourselves again. And get back that impulse that feels like you’re being burned alive.

Banri: … Well, all that being said, my and Hyodo’s challenge has been decided for us, sorry for cheatin’.

Juza: … The guest roles at Hyakka, ya mean.

Banri: We’ll definitely hit it big and evolve, and we’ll spread MANKAI Company’s name and raise our ranking.

Juza: Nothing’s gonna hold me back.

Sakyo: Obviously. But don’t forget you’ll be carryin’ the company’s name with you.

Azami: That means our challenges gotta be something of that caliber, too.

Omi: Right…

Taichi: ——

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[msfbgraves]

I'm so disappointed that I've lost interest in rewatching the show lmao even though S1 was amazing. And it had nothing to do with the actors but only with the writing. NOTHING felt earned, everything that was stated to be oh so impactful fell flat - Johnny getting everything, Kreese's redemption, even Miguel's victory. Because it should've been Robbie who won. Robbie who directly mirrors Daniel from KK1. Daniel won after Kreese (!) had him injured. Axel injures Robbie at the pressure of his abusive Sensei. Robbie should have won the tournament just like Daniel did, and Axel should've had his "you're alright larusso" moment that Johnny had (who, according to the show never did anything wrong ever. Like, if he never did anything wrong and was always the victim ever, why did we have S1???) And sure, Terry was great, but even his "doesn't get Daniel's forgiveness" arc doesn't pay off because their last conversation was a fucking joke!! "Cobra kai never dies"??? How can you be so off the mark?? It was outright disrespectful by being so unfitting for a sequel to the KK saga. Like you don't get the source material you are drawing inspiration from! You've missed the entire point!! You don't even get the S1 that you wrote!!! Like, hello??? What the hell happened? HOW the hell was this allowed to happen? I know it's just a TV show but it makes me furious that such bad writing happened to a show that was just So Good in the beginning. Like, they did get it. In the beginning. They actually got it. But then they lost it, and I just don't get why!! I want to see or read an alternative version, because this isn't me complaining because "I didn't get my way". This is me complaining because nothing here worked, it was just badly written, and I don't think, as toxic as fandoms can be, that we deserved that. The actors certainly didn't.

What I think happened, and I've made a slightly satirical post about it, is that the writers didn't want to give up their view of correct masculinity while also feeling, deep in their gut, that The Karate Kid, that critiques this kind of masculinity in Kreese especially, had very valid points to make. Scarily valid points. Because if TKK is right, toxic masculinity and the bullying it leads to, is wrong. But how can it be so wrong when it feels so right? OK, they know, what if they use Johnny Lawrence as a protagonist who is macho, and funny, and we can all have fun watching him be badass and making fun of nerds. Because that is legitimately fun. And taking Daniel down a peg or two. And yes, we'd have to take an extremely bad faith approach to anything he's ever done but we can get away with that, can't we? It's Johnny Lawrence. He's not gonna have a positive view about Daniel LaRusso. ('What about Johnny handing him the trophy and saying you're alri-" "We're not gonna reference that I HATE THIS FUCKIN TWERP HE NEEDS TO BE OBLITERATED" "Hayden, stop being a pussy about Ralph" "... ... ... Most people won't remember that and will grant us some creative license." "Attaboy, Hayden"). Anyhow, and we'll keep the woke brigade off our backs by pointing out that Johnny obviously is not supposed to be a role model because he has fucked his life up and his son hates him.

And in the first two seasons it works because they are mostly emotionally honest (at least where the men are concerned. They could not, even in the first two seasons, fathom that mothers (Amanda, Carmen, Laura, Sharon, Rosa or Lucille) had any emotional depth or complexity. They're all walking clichés, and that is with the actresses trying their hardest to breathe life into them. Ralph made asshole!Daniel work through his Terry Silver trauma. (That's why it is such a great thing Thomas came in, too.) But when you are being emotionally honest... You are going to have to admit that this badass attitude gets people seriously hurt. Like what would have happened to Daniel if not for Mr. Miyagi. That boy would have been dead, according to Kamen. And now, Miguel is very likely disabled for life, whether or not he walks again, and Robby is in Juvie - his priors won't have done him any favors.

But the reason why they started writing it was that they wanted to make Johnny right and they wanted to have a reconcilliation with their own shit Dads through letting Johnny have one with Kreese but when you are true to these characters, which they know how to do, that is never gonna happen, because your son won't forgive you without you doing any work and shit Dads do not see the light suddenly because otherwise they wouldn't have been that shit in the first place and women don't date unkempt, violent, jobless losers who have abandoned their family because men would like it better if they did. Just like hot rich men don't fall for shy, plain, insecure wallflowers. Men don't have to be billionaires and women don't have to be models but you need to put some effort in.

So my only explanation is, that when they were being honest, they were proving The Karate Kid right (and of course they were, that film is based on real life for the most part). Which they had set out NOT TO DO. Because if the Karate Kid is right, and bullying is bad, that means THEY must have been bad for having been bullies and somehow that is too painful to grapple with. (Ralph said on YouTube, in a Q&A about TKK, which was held in 2012: "[The movie] offends no one - except bullies" cue the biggest indictment of CK before it even aired!)

So what did they do? The consciously went against their own characters, and what the story naturally set out to say. Now, as a fic author, I recognise this. It's frustrating to want to get to a conclusion with a story when the story has other plans. The story, then, may just about forgive you very small swerves, but if you start forcing it harder it gets ridiculous. That happens all the time. When for instance, in the Handmaid's Tale, a character would have left the story, but this would have put the actress out of a job, the whole rest of the series unravelled. Because it went against its own rules and stopped making any internal sense.

So, if you go against the laws of nature with Miguel's miracle cure and laws of humanity by letting Johnny off scott free for everything he has done to Robby, and pulling Daniel and Robby apart because you want Robby in Cobra Kai for the drama and you want to punish Robby for being the only one who has rightfully called Johnny out and you want to deny him the option to say, "To Hell with that old man, Daniel is my Dad now", and you ignore that Carmen, a single woman with two dependents and a job as a medical professional would be on birth control, and even if she wasn't, plan B, abortion pills and medical termination of pregnancies exists, because Real Men Impregnate and Johnny needs a true do over and what do moms even do, amirite, your story stops making Any Goddamn Sense. It stops working.

The reason why I didn't stop at S3 was that at least at the very end, Daniel started to get really interesting. Honestly I have no idea what S3 was even about apart from Miguel's miracle cure, but they tapped into Daniel's dark side and lo and behold, here comes Terry! And Terry's story, for the most part, also made internal sense. So by shifting the focus away from Johnny, whose story logic they had so strongly violated, it regained a lot of internal truth.

And then they had Kreese fake his death with a cup of Jell-o. Because to hell with truth, story truth or realism, we need Daddy back. And also, everything needs to be about Kreese and Johnny, so Terry has to be made to care about them more than Daniel, even though the whole third film was about his relationship with Daniel. Yes, he had one with Kreese but that was never the main point. So their ongoing fuckery also doesn't make sense. Kreese was done with Terry before they even met again. Terry was done with Kreese at the end of S4. They wrote that! Yes, Kreese may have wanted revenge, but Terry really doesn't much care about him or Johnny. Which is why a final resolution between these two rings so false. A final showoff between Johnny and Kreese would have had much more weight. I mean what is Kreese so mad about he wants Terry dead for? The loss of Cobra Kai? He had Cobra Kai back! The time in jail? The charges were dropped! And again Terry doesn't care so there is no emotional resolution. This doesn't affect either Daniel or Johnny, they just wanted two badass characters go out in a cool way.

That's what happens when you force a story to adhere to the writers' ideals or whatever outside factor prompts you to make a decision that goes against your story's own rules (or human behavior in general). It becomes a hollow parody of itself.

[Deep breath] Why was this allowed to happen? Because a big enough part of the audience likes toxic masculinity and apparently watches a story only to be very superficially entertained. When the audience stays happy who cares? People like me were never going to buy CK merchandise, but they just might. Also, the actors know that people have done far worse for a far smaller paycheck than tell a bad story.

Of course, ruining meaningful stories is bad for people's mental health, but who cares about that? That's what alcohol is for. And oh, you're a woman? Who cares in general? Go get fucked and then cook me dinner!

[cnwolf-brainrot]

Guess what y'all I've got MORE KAI-CENTRIC MOVIE IDEAS because at this point I'm getting excited about the idea of a live action Ninjago movie because the more I think about it, the more I think there's a lot of ways that they could do it well. However, one of the biggest things I'm worried about is that we'll have a repeat of The Lego Ninjago Movie: great development of the main character, but then the other characters are basically just there to be there with little to no development at all.

So here's continuing off of my last two posts talking about making Kai the main character and a base plot concept, here's what I would do with the other ninja if I was writing the live action movie:

First off, general characterization themes: with the concepts that I have going into this Kai-centric movie already, I would want "protectiveness" to be a core part of the movie and have every character go on an arc that centers around this theme.

Starting off with Cole, this theme is already pretty central to his character throughout the show. He's the eldest in this line up, and so he wants to try to take the others under his wing and make sure they're safe. I think his biggest struggle with the "protectiveness" theme is that the others are extremely resistant to his protective tendencies. He needs to learn to take a step back in order to let the others take a step forward and accept help. Also we're totally keeping Cole's backstory with his dad and dancing and everything, but since that plot line doesn't fit in with the main theme as well it's something we would save for a sequel.

For Jay, I think it would be interesting to tackle a character arc of selfishness/selflessness for him. As an orphan who grew up in a junkyard (a REQUIRED portion of his backstory) this Jay is pretty protective of his inventions. He tends to see a lot of value in things that other people see as "trash" because he can see the potential in them -- possibly alludes to an inferiority complex, but I digress. His arc in this movie would focus on him learning to value the people around him more than his creations, and to shift his protectiveness over the things he makes over to protecting those around him.

Zane, of course, has protectiveness built into his character; he was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. HOWEVER, I've been thinking about this the last few days, and I'll be honest... I don't want the nindroid reveal to be in the first movie. For the ideas that I have going into this, I think it would be better to save this reveal for a a second film. I'll probably talk about this more in a later post BUT I'll just leave it there for now and say Zane would be a bit more of a background character in this first movie!

Nya, on the other hand, would play a pretty central role. Like the show I wouldn't give her elemental powers in this first installment, but she would have a very clear arc of independence VS protectiveness. She starts out by being kidnapped by the Skeleton Army, and she spends the first 30ish minutes of the run time breaking out and meeting Lloyd. Lloyd offers her help and she initially turns it down because of that 'independence' aspect of her character, but later ends up accepting it so she can get them both out of the army's clutches. With Lloyd's help she's able to build a rudimentary exoskeleton suit (think Iron Man Mark 1) and get them out of there, only to meet up with the ninja. They offer for her to be part of the team, but at first she refuses because she's set on being more of a solo act. She rebuilds her suit throughout the rest of the movie, turning into a full-fledged Samurai X by the end. At the climax of the movie, the whole Kai-saves-Lloyd-from-the-volcano scene gives her the motivation to step from an independent role to a protective role, and she joins the team to help finish the fight.

I just want all of the characters to actually have character arcs and motivations and I'm terrified that the movie won't give us that lol

[aberfaeth]

Okay, I'm intriged: can I ask what #titsatotmwstw is?

ok apologies in advance for how much i yapped:

titsatotmwstw stands for “the incredible true story and transformation of the man who saved the world”! it’s the longform/full title of the 2015 hip hop space opera concept album “the incredible true story” by rapper bobby hall aka logic, and i use the full acronym bc otherwise i would just be tagging my posts as “tits” lmfao (logic, for context, is an artist who gets clowned on often for having one very popular very bad corny album, which i think is valid and always funny. but the rest of his discog is actually good to me. to MEEE)

the incredible true story is a beautiful stellar incomparable album with banger song after banger song interspersed with scenes depicting the adventure of two guys on a space mission and their ship’s AI. it deals with themes of freedom and desire under capitalism, cycles of abuse both interpersonal and ecological, and, most importantly, being a fucking nerd. about a week ago logic dropped the sequel album “ultra 85” which has been in the works at least publicly for seven years!!! very exciting news for annoying people (me) it expands on the first album and also touches on finding your people, going to therapy to fix your dumb brain, owning your past without becoming a monument to it, and Acclaimed Director Quentin Tarantino. thomas and kai’s actors reprise their roles and there are some fun darling new faces

and i ALSO found out (from my coworker who was interrupting this info by laughing at me for liking logic. rachel if youre out there) that mr bobby hall is publishing a book based on the incredible true story (VERY exciting news for annoying people)!!! i knew he had a novel but was supremely uninterested except now that he’s apparently beating me to the thomas/kai fanfic game i gotta get my hands on that thang

this is 8 yrs long but if u or anyone else is interested i can talk about the actual characters and story and why its so interesting to me but rly you should listen to the album its so insane

[okiecookie20]

EXO "Lucky One" theory!

The mv is heavily lore-based as we know. Okay I'll try my best to point out clues I found were significant.

𝐓hey are being taken by the nurses in red visors (unmistakeably agents of RF) on stretchers to a unit. The boys are bound and show resistance. Some of them have very prominent dark blue eyes presumably after being drugged:

(their visuals shine even in poor quality of the video — tf sm doing bare minimum for our boys)

Suho said that the members lose their powers in Lucky One. The make-up and overall look exos have in the mv signifies how they're being experimented on with the color drained from their cheeks. also EXO being glass skin ambassadors in this vid

They have been kidnapped and have lost their powers. (I read this somewhere that Exo came on TV in the June ep of Music Video Bank and explained the main story of Lucky One; Baekhyun emphasized on while the other members use their powers, Kai dances when he is cornered 😭😭).

•We see Lay's dream - since his eye is in focus — how the members use their powers but I think Kai is unable to first see where he wants to teleport since that's how this stuff works.

•Kyungsoo sees Lay being carried out of the room and he uses his power - Force to shatter the glass panes. This might be an action which made them realise the danger they were in and make their escape. He is unmoved and appears with a blank expression most of the time (so do the others).

In the end he seemingly makes it out but we see how he has reached the centre of the maze very similar to Overdose mv. The agents are tracking the boys and only Kyunsoo's location doesn't glow??! We have 12 lines that might mean he tricked the RF.

It is important to mention that I think Overdose is probably the sequel to Lucky One. I also find it interesting how kyungsoo is the only one who is alone obviously they're 9 but why is it always HIM? I have thought about making a separate post on how Kyungsoo interacts in the mvs and his role in the story.

•Another clue we get at the end is that the hues change and appear similar to the aesthetic of 'Kokobop'. The same colors appear when Baekhyun is drugged.

This is one clue that Ko ko bop happens after Lucky One! The second clue I found is the drug the nurses inject in Baekhyun (and probably everyone else). In Kokobop also the members appear dazed and sleep in weird places, they are drugged and imagining stuff like giant burgers.

•Ohkay so our H2O buddies Suho and Xiumin are seen trapped in white chambers.

But we have to remember it's all in BnW. And they are the ones who combined their powers to make 🧊 and glasses (Xiumin) of water (Suho) for themselves, maybe to overcome the effects of the drugs

Oh! I just found out how they were the ones banging on the walls of the Overdose maze in the mv!! They are also known as counterparts in the lore. So this similarity and interaction is definitely not a coincidence. It's interesting how their role is significant in the overall concept they have and maybe I'll talk about them separately in a different post!

Now I want to mention some ~clues~ which I don't have much interpretations for, at least yet:

We see how Baekhyun encourages(?) Chanyeol to use his powers — as they enter a room — while he himself is not shown to use his in the mv.

Lastly I wanna mention, because I can't think anymore my brain is clouded with so much info & finding clues; is that Chanyeol's Red hair (he looks fire oml) is not just an aesthetic but matches the concept. In a way it explains his role in Power and Obsession (I'll try to explain some other things in another post!) Also, shoutout to @faakeid on Mind Dissociation theory!

Other theories: Obsession Theory | KAI Rover

Thank You so much for reading!❤️😭 I would really appreciate it if you share your POV🌺 *I'm new to Tumblr, joined this month🙂