#and taking op fully out of context

[carmillatism]

u may lose ur mind when u learn that straight is oftentimes used as a generalized term to mean not queer and/or cishet

[the-one-and-only-elita]

One thing that I absolutely love about TFOne's writing is that it manages to avoid a lot of the heavier criticism I've seen regarding MegOp's hero/villain dynamic over the years (trust me, the mid-2010s TF discourse was crazy)

*Spoilers Below*

First of all, the narrative benefits so much from the main 4 cast members all being a part of the same exploited mining class. So many takes on MegOp have Orion being of a higher status (an archivist, a cop, etc) while Megatron is much lower down on the social latter (a miner, a gladiator, often in the context of being a slave).

I've seen many people be put off by this, because it feels as if Megs is being villianized for being rightfully angry at the system that deeply harmed and exploited him, while Orion/Optimus is praised for taking a more pacifistic stance despite him not suffering as much from or in some ways even benefiting from the system he claims to oppose. I don't find their dynamic to be as simple as that, and I do find these takes to be a bit reductive, but I do very much see where they are coming from.

I am definitely one of those people who's very frustrated with the way pacifism is hailed as the one true path of morality, and the inherent implication that taking any sort of revenge on the people who abused/exploited you makes you just as bad as them. Also, Marvel's particular brand of demonizing any form of radical political action, despite the system clearly being broken and corrupt, but being completely unwilling to offer any other alternatives to meaningfully change things for the better.

When looking at what I described above its pretty easy to see how a lot of versions of MegOp's hero/villain dynamic unfortunately fits into that trope. Bringing it back to TFOne, you can see how Op and Meg coming from the same political/social status subverts this. The existence of Elita and Bee only further illustrates that out of the 4 people of the mining class who were all deceived, exploited, and literally mutilated in the same way it is only D-16 that completely loses himself to his rage, even to the point where he loses compassion for his own companions and disregarding the safety of the other miners (when he decides to "tears everything down" and Elita exclaims he's going to "kill everyone").

What I think I love most about the characterization in TFOne is that Orion is the radical one. Not only that, but he is praised by Elita and by extension the narrative for it. He is constantly challenging authority, and is the first to have the suspicion that their society is structured in an unjust way.

Meanwhile D-16, to be frank, is kind of a bootlicker. He fully believed in the system and that Sentinal Prime, as someone with power, had the right to decided "what was best" for those who are weaker/lesser (I wish I had the specific quote from D-16 to support this, but the movie's still in theaters). It illustrate that D-16 already held certain fascistic ideals, and that he and Orion already have fundamentally opposing moral/political values, it simply hasn't been of any consequence yet. It shows that their eventual falling out was inevitable, even if they had decided to rebuild Cybertron together.

It should also be noted that D-16's feelings of anger and betrayal do not necessarily have anything to do with the unjust system itself, but that said unjust system was predicated on a lie. Hence his fixation on deception in the post-credits scene and him naming his faction the Decepticons. Meanwhile, when Orion learns the truth he's just sort of like "yeah, I always kinda knew something was up" because again, he understood on some level that their system was predicated on injustice.

Even D-16's obsession with Megatronus Prime, while initially an endearing aspect of his character, is also an indicator of the questionably large amount of value he puts on one's strength. It foreshadows the "might makes right" ideology that the decepticons follow, and is a key part of their ideological characterization across continuities.

Instead of the narrative we often see in Transformers media were Optimus is idolized by the narrative for being more moderate and Megatron is villiainized for being radical (or so people often claim), it is instead Optimus who is rewarded and praised by the narrative for being radical, and Megatron who is villainized and punished by the narrative for holding potentially fascistic values.

I do agree with some criticism I've seen that the whole thing with killing Sentinel and D-16's final turn into villainy felt a bit rushed and more than a little cliche, but I also understand it both had a limited runtime and that it is ultimately a family film meant to be accessible to children. More importantly though, I think the movie set the groundwork early on that, no matter how this final act played out, D-16 was always going to turn to darkness, and Orion would not have been able to stop him.

Its perfectly tragic, the way all MegOp should be, while also feeling really well thought out from a thematic standpoint. I love it.

[hitohitonomi]

One Piece Headcanon ☆ How your relationship with Zoro would start and then grow.

or How to Flirt with an Oblivious, Cold, and Stupid Man.

☆ (In whatever context you want, AU, OP universe, as you wish) ☆ Gender neutral reader.

Zoro wouldn’t notice your signals. Not at first. He literally has one brain cell and it’s doing pull-ups for his goals. Becoming the world’s strongest swordsman, not, you know, falling in love.

He’s respectful, yeah. He nods when you say hi. Maybe holds the door open. But that’s it. Your eye contact? Missed. Your lingering smile? Ignored. He doesn't consider even one second the possibility that someone could be into him, even less you. And it’s not because he’s humble, he just genuinely does not think that way. Dating isn’t on his radar, and flirting? Don't even talk about it, has he ever even thought of it?

Eventually, you get tired of it. Tired of throwing him the biggest signals possible, of sending obvious glances. You finally think to yourself : “I’m a grown adult. If I want something to happen, I’m gonna make it happen. Manifest it. Speak it into existence.” What's the worst thing that could happen? Ohh nooo he says no. Okay. You’ll survive. I promise you'll be fine and finally you’ll stop obsessing over a man who doesn’t get sarcasm and can’t tell the difference between flirting and friendship. You’ll move on I swear. Right now you just think too much.

So you make the first move. Just a basic little question...

"So… do you ever get lost on purpose, or does it just happen?" (You’re joking. He doesn’t get it.) "Huh? No. I just take routes that aren’t weak." …Yeah. Still not rejection though so I guess it's fine.

Next time, you try again. A little bolder this time. You lean in, eyes sparkling, voice warm.

"You know, I think you’d look good in a black button-down shirt! But open at the top." He blinks. “…Why would I wear that to train?” But you see it... that tiny bit of processing behind the eyes. He got it finally and he’s a bit flustered. A little stunned you know he's not used to this. He doesn’t say much, but you catch him watching you longer next time. Maybe even smirking, just a little. You finally got his attention! That wasn't so hard finally, you just needed to be direct.

When things actually start heating up, it’s a mess... because you’re trying to act perfect (even though you know he’s seen you trip over nothing) and he is trying to act normal, like this is just casual and whatever, but he’s so awkward and clumsy with it. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands. He’ll zone out and then realize he’s been staring at your lips for a full minute. Then pretend he wasn’t. Then walk into a door.

And you fall a little harder.

Then, it happens : you catch him in a vulnerable moment. He’d just come back from a fight... a bad one. His shoulder’s cut up, there’s blood on his shirt, and you can see that he’s not just bruised... he’s pissed at himself. But when you offer to help patch him up, he doesn’t say no.

He sits there, silent but letting you clean the wound. Not flinching, ,ot bragging either.... you can feel how heavy it is for him, not the injury, but the fact that he lost. But, he lets you see him like this. That’s how you know he trusts you, even if he’ll never say it like that. Normally you’d be completely turned off by this whole thing. You're not into "bad boys", you'd be so cringed if it were someone else. But with Zoro… it’s different. You understand that fighting isn’t what defines him. It’s the purpose behind it. The promise, the loyalty, and you respect it fully.

When you two finally get close, like really close, it’s the best kind of mess.

He’s goofy. Not intentionally... he’s just kind of dumb sometimes. Leaves his swords in weird places, falls asleep in the middle of your conversations, says ridiculously serious things with a deadpan face that makes you laugh until you cry. Sometimes he trains shirtless in the sun and you genuinely think you might pass out. Other times he trips on a step and says it was part of his "agility routine."

But he loves deeply, in the rare and unwavering way. He won’t say much, but when he looks at you, it’s with full attention. And that’s when you know... every missed signal and every moment you thought he’d never get it… it was all worth it.

[sharkbitten-sailor]

So like I saw your one of a kind au for forsaken and now let me make an au for that au

We are a shapeshifter, a species long driven to extinction or is it? It’s not people of our species had mimicked the forms and behaviours of species including the humans of sonaria

We can expand on this further with players, we are technically apart of the mimic species sometimes almost always taking the form of a sonarian creature or using all of them and whatever, we are technically immortal if we expand on that more due to the fact we can simply come back from the dead and that we don’t die from old age but we still worry about food and water and such as we aren’t invincible, we are just immortal

Now on the rare occasion if we do end up in forsaken, yeah I’m not even going to sugar coat it, we are basically gonna survive very well and maybe beat the fuck out of spectre cuz of some things

Like one, we like how we do in sonaria can shapeshift and use the abilities of the thing we shapeshift in but that isn’t just for humans and sonarian creatures, nah we can theoretically take the form of a eldritch, seraphim, world serpent or whatever if that isn’t just our original form

Off topic but we can also change our colour and gender so one minute we are fine, and the next our whole body is see though or neon which is fucking gonna be a hassle for killers or anyone to be honest

And this is op THATS why in sonaria we take the forms of different sonarian creatures, we do it for survival sure but also and mostly, for Fun

Which if we eventually crash out in a round of something Oh that’s gonna be something! MYEHEHEHEH

–Grim from twst

YO ANON YOU'RE GETTING KIDNAPPED FOR TALENT DELIVERY 🫡

this is so peak i’m not even being dramatic rn. i literally have no words left,.. your brain is unreal. in a good way,,

just imagine: killers seeing nothing but four glowing eyes blinking in the dark. no body. no context. i’m projecting too hard join the shapeshifter gang/hj

survivors like noob, elliot, 007n7 are,,, quite terrified. noob absolutely had a heart attack the first time you nuzzled them out of nowhere for no reason. elliot and 007n7 play it cool but still shriek every time you blink into existence behind them.

shedletsky and chance are “fanboys” about it. shed wants you to transform on command, probably riding you around when you shift into a dragon or similar thing. chance just places bets,,. gun boosts? check. sky sniping? check.

guest 1337 is ultra suspicious at first but once he sees you save their sorry butt, he starts casually patting your head/back. father and his adopted child bonding time trust

two time,,, uh,, wild card energy. either they call you a divine spawn and start worshipping, or fully hunt you down with their dagger because “the end has arrived.” you get whiplash trying to figure them out.

the admins like builderman, dusekkar + taph don’t even blink. they just see how useful you are and move on. corporate efficiency. except,, uhhhh

PLEASE STOP HYPNOTIZING THEM BY SHIFTING COLORS my guy, shed and chance keep cheering for more visual chaos and now the admins (+ taph) are standing in walls just staring. it's eye-burn central💔

and jane,, poor exhausted legend. she doesn’t flinch anymore, just quietly thanks you every time you catch her. sometimes she collapses on your fluff-form like a sad burrito and refuses to move. best bed award goes to you.

in fact everyone is welcome. but bravery is a currency :]

[genericpuff]

in light of what i reblogged earlier re: expecting people to engage with the actual source material of fandoms before trying to participate - while Rekindled is on hiatus, y'know what you should do?

Go read Lore Olympus.

The Originals series, the pilot episodes, all of it - or, at least as much of it as you can.

Not because I think you should force yourself to read something that you don't like.

Not because I think it deserves all the accolades it still gets to this day.

But because that thing you don't like might have had some great ideas and concepts and it was with those ideas and concepts that I was able to create Rekindled.

Because that thing you don't like might actually have stuff you like in it but you never found out because you never engaged with it past the antiLO/ULO communities.

Because that thing you don't like is something I used to like so much that I was willing to spend the last 2+ years of my life creating something new out of it, and will probably spend 2+ more years continuing to do so.

I know that's a HOT TAKE coming from me of all people, but there's so much stuff that I see people commenting about Rekindled that deadass would not exist if it weren't for LO, and Rekindled itself has grown to a point that we've now taken on readers who've never even touched LO. Wilder still that I'm fairly certain we have a few readers who didn't even know LO existed. The longer Rekindled goes on, the more it deviates from the original work as the plot changes and moves away from what LO tried to do, subsequently the more disconnect will grow between those who understand its context and those who don't.

And I'm talking beyond the obvious stuff like the S1 plot tweaks and trying to mimic Rachel's older art style, I mean the real nitty gritty stuff that's meant for the fans and haters alike, the references, easter eggs, panel redraws, borrowed designs, and inside jokes that go as far back as the pilot episodes that you wouldn't be able to fully understand or appreciate without having read the source material-

(there are sooo much more than this but I'd hit the image limit before I even got through half of them LMAO and there's one in particular that hasn't happened yet but I'm really hoping people pick up on when it does because it's probably my favorite out of all the parallels I have planned ;0 and if you're someone who HAS read the original comic all the way through and knows all the references and detailse, I hope it's at least making for some fun easter egg hunting LOL)

None of this is to diminish our own efforts to create something unique out of Rekindled, both through its art and writing - there are a lot of original ideas and concepts that we've made for it that we're really proud of and frankly really grateful that we came up with before Rachel LOL (Gorgon Ramses is ours! Big boy Dionysus is ours because we beat Rachel to the punch in his debut! Charon is ours! Muahahahaha-) but some of you compliment things with Rekindled that I'm concerned you don't realize aren't original ideas on our part-💀

I'm all for dunking on LO, but I'm also all for free thinking and my free thought is that you should absolutely read LO so you can form your own opinion of it separate from that of my own. You don't have to pay for it, you don't have to give Rachel and Webtoons your hard-earned money, the DailyPass system might be annoying but it does let you read 2 free episodes a day, all the way up until the finale which some webtoons don't even let you do (some of them force you to pay for the final episodes). With AdPass you can read even more. Shit, if you really can't access it but you're tech savvy enough to understand how magnets work (cough cough), I'll help you out.

Get through as much of it as you can, at the very least the first season and the pilot episodes. If you really can't stomach much more of it beyond that, then obviously don't force yourself to, but at least then you'll be able to form a more concrete opinion based on what you've actually read.

Lore Olympus absolutely sucks ass in more ways than I can count, none of what I'm saying here is a glowing recommendation of it as a piece of media. But Rekindled wouldn't be what it is - it wouldn't even be - without it. And that alone should make engaging with the source material worth something to anyone who enjoys Rekindled for what it is, and what it isn't. I hate what LO became - and what it ultimately always was as soon as the rose-colored glasses fell off - but I love what it used to mean to me still to this day and I love what it still provides for me through Rekindled.

There is, after all, a reason why it is called Lore Rekindled ♡( ◡‿◡ )

[anistarrose]

I want to make my posts more accessible, but can't write IDs myself: a guide

[Plain text: "I want to make my posts more accessible, but can't write IDs myself: a guide." End plain text.]

While every image posted online should be accessible in an ideal world, we all know it 1) takes time to learn how to write image descriptions, and 2) is easy to run out of spoons with which to write IDs. And this says nothing of disabilities that make writing them more challenging, if not impossible — especially if you're a person who benefits from IDs yourself.

There are resources for learning how to write them (and if you already know the basics, I'd like to highlight this good advice for avoiding burnout) — but for anyone who cannot write IDs on their original posts at any current or future moment, for any reason, then there are two good options for posting on Tumblr.

1. Crowdsource IDs through the People's Accessibility Discord

[Plain text: "1. Crowdsource IDs through the People's Accessibility Discord". End plain text.]

The People's Accessibility Discord is a community that volunteers description-writing (and transcript-writing, translation, etc) for people who can't do so themselves, or feel overwhelmed trying to do so. Invite link here (please let me know if the link breaks!)

The way it works is simple: if you're planning to make an original post — posting art, for example — and don't know how to describe it, you can share the image there first with a request for a description, and someone will likely be able to volunteer one.

The clear upside here (other than being able to get multiple people's input, which is also nice) is that you can do this before making the Tumblr post. By having the description to include in your post from the start, you can guarantee that no inaccessible version of the post will be circulated.

You can also get opinions on whether a post needs to be tagged for flashing or eyestrain — just be able to spoiler tag the image or gif you're posting, if you think it might be a concern. (Also, refer here for info on how to word those tags.)

The server is very chill and focused on helping/answering questions, but if social anxiety is too much of a barrier to joining, or you can't use Discord for whatever reason, then you can instead do the following:

2. Ask for help on Tumblr, and update the post afterwards

[Plain text: "Ask for help on Tumblr, and update the post afterwards". End description.]

Myself and a lot of other people who describe posts on this site are extra happy to provide a description if OP asks for help with one! This does leave the post inaccessible at first, so to minimize the drawbacks, the best procedure for posting an image you can't fully describe would be as follows:

Create the tumblr post with the most bare-bones description you can manage, no matter how simple (something like "ID: fanart of X character from Y. End ID" or "ID: a watercolor painting. End ID," or literally whatever you can manage)

Use a tool like Google Lens or OCR to extract text if applicable and if you have the energy, even if the text isn't a full image description (ideally also double-check the transcriptions, because they're not always perfect)

Write in the body of the post that you'd appreciate a more detailed description in the notes!

Tag the post as "undescribed" and/or "no id" only if you feel your current, bare-bones description is missing out on a lot of important context

When you post it and someone provides an ID, edit the ID into the original post (don't use read mores, italics, or small text)

Remove the undescribed tag, if applicable. If you're posting original art, you can even replace it with a tag like "accessible art" for visibility!

And congrats! You now have a described post that more people will be able to appreciate, and you should certainly feel free to self-reblog to give a boost to the new version!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Just read Malleus dorm uniform vignette because I got his SSR to build a better cosmic team. All i have to say was Malleus neutral but now I'm a hater.

Like wtf. He's so incompetent.

Aaaaah, I see 😅 Not a fan of those vignettes, huh??

I have my own share of problems with them (like how the groovy has so little to do with the context for it), but let’s be fair to Malleus here 💦 He’s sheltered, comes from a country that is very anti-human, and is so OP he primarily relies on magic to solve his inconveniences; it’s only to be expected that he doesn’t know the proper etiquette when interacting with his fellow mages. Now, was it rude for him to do what he did—even if he didn’t know any better? Absolutely. He made a major faux pas here. Is he acting rude intentionally? No, it’s for sure out of ignorance.

I think the major issue that some (myself included) take with these vignettes isn’t that Malleus messed up or that he is ignorant that he did, but that he doesn’t really apologize for it and doesn’t try to learn from the experience even though this is clearly his big issue. Instead, he leaves confused + not fully understanding why what he did was wrong. Sure, he resolves to “be better” next time + swears he’ll continue to learn more about humans but like… why can’t he do that now? Why is he putting it off to later??? Why doesn’t he take the time and effort to try and understand why he was perceived as being so rude?? Malleus even closes the vignettes by saying it might take 100 years to come to a mutual understanding… when he didn’t truly listen to what his fellow dorm leaders said to him to express their upset and explain why they were chastising him. It’s not wonder it’s going to take him so long to learn; he barely seems to pay any mind to the people in front of him literally telling him what he did wrong and why (even when it’s coming from Lilia, someone he respects). He’s so fixated on his own mindset that even when others try to show him their perspectives, he cannot really… see those perspectives. This is a cycle that repeats, a character flaw of Malleus’s, and while it’s not wrong to have flaws, I can see why this particular flaw can be irritating and unappealing to some fans. (That’s definitely the case for me 😅)

[candiid-caniine]

on punishment. tw: dom-shaming

so this post is going around on some blogs i follow and i kind of want to discuss it, without adding to a post that has some fair and reasonable points:

in context, the bulk of this post is about training a submissive partner to take on some behaviors, or cease others, and how the author believes praise/rewards are the most effective + ethical way to do this. buuuut this doesn't sit right with me.

there's definitely a need 4 discussion with some subs about how their desires are not punishment-worthy or guilt-worthy. + much to be said about the psychological efficacy of behavioral change methods. i think it's probable that many subs have a negative relationship with punishment for good reasons, and in particular i think the OP here may have personal issues with the topic, which they are fully entitled to.

however, acting as if this is the best practice is, imo, harmful and unacceptable. i'll be addressing the issues i have with it under the cut; if you don't want to see discourse/philosophy, don't click :)

your sub is not your child: "training" is an entirely conscious and mutual decision. the post does mention this, but it also shames doms who are inclined to use punishment as a training method. let me be clear on how i feel here: the efficacy does not matter. you are adults. if you mutually decide punishment is an acceptable way to train, it's your brain.

you know what motivates me the most to change my behavior? being treated like someone who knows what they are doing.

"an adult punished for stealing will learn to steal more effectively." consider that the adult is making the choice to steal regardless, whether out of necessity or due to personal motivation. a sub who wants to be trained is not an adult who doesn't want to be stopped from stealing. both of these points are needlessly infantilizing to the submissive.

"Your submissive is no different from any of those examples." yes the fuck they are. your examples are a dog, a child, and a person the state views as a criminal. if your submissive is "no different" from those examples, you need to examine your shit as an adult and remand yourself to some form of personal growth.

"why would you want to rule through fear." because the fear is fun. lol. alternatively, doms who want to rule through pure, earnest, and unwilling fear are not doms, they're abusers. no matter the level or relationship involved in behavioral training for subs, the end goal is mutual fulfillment. if you don't like what others do in their bedrooms, or their 24/7 dynamics...simply don't participate.

"kill the cop in your head." okay. i already did that--i killed the part of my brain that moralized the things i wanted in my dynamic. i killed the part of my brain that designated punishers as violent, cruel, and unstable and the people who want to be punished as naive, weak, and child-like.

listen. my goal is not to say this person is wrong, or that their feelings towards punishment in a power dynamic or a training dynamic are invalid. they are very much not!! my issue is the dom-shaming and sub-infantilizing rhetorics behind what should be a personal exploration, not a sweeping, moralistic generalization about what consenting adults should do in their relationships.

if punishment in a training dynamic makes you feel unsafe, that's okay. don't do it.

if punishment in a training dynamic makes you feel safe, that's great. do it.

if your partner disrespects your position on either side, or intentionally trains you in a way they know you dislike, they are a bad partner and that is a separate issue.

punishment, for those who choose to utilize it in a training situation, is:

a morally neutral action. it would be immoral if it was done without consent. that is an issue with consent, not punishment.

agreed upon by both parties. see above.

sometimes pleasant: in this case, it may be sexually fulfilling, which makes it more of a soft punishment/"funishment." it becomes either a safe, predictable outcome for bratting, which can promote feelings of trust in the dynamic, or just unpleasant enough that the partner being "trained" prefers not to do it most of the time.

sometimes unpleasant: not sexually gratifying, perhaps, but still a reinforcement of the dynamic. again, a way to promote safety and predictability. your dom isn't slacking. your dom cares about your behavior. your dom's attention is on what you do, good or bad, because they're invested in you.

a way to reclaim feelings of guilt, make them safe, and deconstruct them. i cannot stress this enough. guilt over "bad" behavior (that i as an adult know i am allowed to do, but want to be controlled in) is not always a safe emotion for me to be alone with. as someone with religious trauma, as someone who grew up in a religious, corporal-punishment household, being punished for "bad behavior" is vital to my mental health in a dynamic. it lets me process guilt and shame, however "undeserved," in a safe way with a clear ending. it gives me closure. whether that makes me damaged or not, it also gets me the fuck off, so idc. there's a reason i prefer RACK over SSC these days, and it's because moralized definitions of the word "sane" are rampant.

not your business.

please, please make an effort to stop moralizing over what adults get up to in the bedroom. your dynamic is a personal choice that does not reflect on your moral value. i would normally have no issue with this except that OP is phrasing their opinion as a "guide" or "how-to." here is a list of true things, or affirmations, if you felt as unsettled by this as i did:

what goes on in your head is more important than psych articles.

you are allowed to choose how to motivate yourself to change your behavior.

doms are not controlling, abusive, or bootlickers for enjoying using punishment as a motivator.

subs are not damaged, oppressed, or naive for being motivated by punishment.

it does not mean you need to grow as a person if you want to balance punishment and reward in your dynamic.

mental safety is more important than psychological efficacy.

guilt and shame are things you are allowed to process however you want.

i just really need people to stop pushing dom-shaming narratives under the guise of pop psychology + holistic wellness language, pls and thanks. everyone thinks they're an expert nowadays, but the only expert on your mental and sexual wellbeing is you--and hopefully your partner(s) are willing to develop the same expertise :)

play risk-aware and consensual, my loves!

[quetzalpapalotl]

You know how I always complain about people acting like the way to read exRID-OP is to figure out who is right according to the narrative?? Because that is not what the story is trying to do and is just the wrong way to analyse it? I decided to engange with this for fun and ask myself, even if it isn't the point, who is the narrative most consistently siding with? Who is the precious cinnamon roll who can do no wrong and everyone should listen? (strictly during the evens of exRID-OP, what people do in other comics doesn't factor outside context)

I haven't reread the comic this year and I'm doing this from the top of my head, so don't take this as a meaninggul truth but I came with two answers.

The first one is Jazz, because once Barber fully utilized him (he was sort of being kept in reserve for a mini series that ended up never happening) he get the one arc where the narrative is most unambiguosly on someone's side. When he was being used as a scapegoat for human's hatred of Cybertronians because he just happened to kill a cop on tv and he was tricked and not given a chance even when he was the Transformer trying his hardest to get in touch with regular humans and Optimus let this happen for the sake of his own PR and then doesn't even go look for Jazz.

Although people had their reasons, it was pretty clear the narrative wasn't supporting any of them and took it as everyone wronging Jazz. Like exRID-OP is willing to give sympathy to many, but this is on a level no one else gets. And in the finale Jazz is there sharing the wisdom these experiences have taught him and reaches self-actualization.

But also Jazz doesn't get to show much before that, so it's hard to say the narrative is consistent in making him the right one. So my other answer is Thundercracker. TC always has his priorities straight, for which the narrative never judges him, he actually reached self-actualization before the series started and is not trying to let old grudges get to him, wants to be left alone, but will also help in the peace efforts. Like when Marissa (who is generally portrayed as the most sensible of the humans) has her doomerism phase, he is the one who makes her realize that's wrong and consequently Marissa outright avoids a war with the Junkions.

He's even portrayed as justified in his feeling of betrayal when he discovers the humans made all those Ramjet and Thrust copies, even tho it doesn't blame the humans for this because how can they be expected to cross their arms and not develop tech against the war machine titans from space that already killed a billion people and came back to knock at their door? And I get it, it must feel pretty bad to discovers your new friends made zombie clones of your old friends in secret, but also how can they be expected to cross their arms and not develop tech against the war machine titans from space that already killed a billion people and came back to knock at their door?

So what this tells us is that the real moral of exRID-OP is that you need a hobby like music or cinema to connect with the world less you go insane and start thinking going back to war crimes is a good idea.

[garycxjk]

Why most people don't get Europapa

So, Joost Klein's Europapa apparently is taking the world by storm. With its happy hardcore or gabber house tunes and beats and the silly music video, there's no denying that this song has a certain charm, though it also has its detractors.

The thing is, though, most people on both sides don't fully get the song.

To summarize the song, it's essentially about an orphan who travels around Europe to find himself. Those were in Joost's own words.

Europapa is about an orphan who travels throughout Europe (and beyond) to find himself and tell his story. At first, people don’t recognise him, but he goes on seizing any opportunity he gets to let himself be seen. Europapa is a tribute to my father. When bringing me up, he passed on to me an expansive view of the world.

Okay, but why does the song sound so silly? Well, that's something deliberate. I don't really know much about Joost Klein's music, but what I do know is that this is basically what most of his songs are. Silly, yet deep.

Okay, brief detour to give context to the rest of what I'm writing, but it's important to remember that Joost Klein basically became an orphan at a young age. He lost his father to cancer when he was 12, and a year later, his mother died as well. This essentially shaped his music. From what I can gather from the many YouTube comments, he always watched Eurovision with his parents, and told them that one day he'd be there on stage.

So, let's just talk about the elephant in the room. Some people call this European propaganda. However, just the first few lines clue you in that it isn't just some pro-EU propaganda.

Welcome to Europe Stay here until I die

In fact, there are several lines used that wouldn't sit right if it were pro-EU propaganda. Let's look at the second verse.

Ich bin in Deutschland Aber ich bin so allein

Which roughly translates to

I'm in Germany But I'm so lonely

The next lines, "Io sono in Italia / Maar toch doet het pijn" (first line Italian, second line Dutch), which translates to "I'm in Italy / But I still feel pain".

Essentially, the entire song is him trying to let go of his past, to let go of his grief. That's essentially what the burning house and the windmill represent at the end, finally moving on from the past.

And that's essentially what the entire song is about. The entire song sounds like it's stuck in the '90s and early noughties. Naturally the most glaring part is the music style. Back in the '90s, happy hardcore and gabber house was really big, especially in the Netherlands. The way people dance back then and dressed when they did can be seen in the scene with Paul Elstak. Then there's the Gameboy Advance, which came out in the early 2000s.

Another cool thing is a reference to New Kids, a Dutch comedy show from 2007, when someone says "Welkom in Europa jongen!" ("Welcome in Europe boy!"). On the television screen, you can see Gerrie van Boven, played by Tim Haars, a character from New Kids.

But it isn't just a throwback. It's all being done deliberate. Something that gets lost in translation is the text. The rhymes work, however, to a Dutch person, it sounds a bit... childish. Very simple, at the very least. But I think that even that is done deliberately. It sounds like a child has been writing these lines, but I think that's the point of the song. It's supposed to sound like a child has been writing these lines.

The entire song is about the protagonist being stuck in the past, being stuck in his grief. It's why there's a disconnect between the text and the melody. Sure, it's a celebration of Europe, of Eurovision. Joost Klein genuinely loves Eurovision. However, it's also essentially him saying, this is me closing another chapter in my life.

Let's take a look at the outro of the song.

Op kruistocht in m'n spijkerbroek, lopend door de velden M'n papa en m'n mama zijn voor altijd mijn helden Aan het einde van de dag zijn we allemaal mensen M'n vader zei me ooit: "Het is een wereld zonder grenzen" Regen op het raam en ik stond huilend bij het venster Veel te vroeg duister, het is winter in de lente "Ik mis je elke dag", is wat ik stiekempjes fluister Zie je nou wel, pa? Ik heb naar je geluisterd

This... seems quite long, doesn't it? Well, that's because that's the full outro. What most hear during the video clip is this:

Aan het einde van de dag zijn we allemaal mensen M'n vader zei me ooit: "Het is een wereld zonder grenzen" "Ik mis je elke dag", is wat ik stiekempjes fluister Zie je nou wel, pa? Ik heb naar je geluisterd

Let's translate the full lyrics. I'll put the translations of the lyrics in the music video in bold and italic.

On my crusade in jeans, walking through the fields My dad and mom are forever my heroes At the end of the day we are all human beings My father once told me: "It's a world without borders" Rain on the window and I stood at the window crying Darkness far too soon, it's Winter in Spring "I miss you every day", is what I secretly whisper You see dad, I listened to you

So, basically, the gist is, this song has many layers. It's a heartfelt tribute to Eurovision, while also telling a personal story about grief and letting go of said grief.

Though I think this interview with Joost Klein on De Avondshow met Arjen Lubach may say more than I could.

Well, sometimes you must say goodbye to whatever is most dear to you. And when one door closes thousands of others open, apparently. But what I've learned is that you tend to hold on to your own pain sometimes. So this letter provides some sort of closure, dare I say. Saying: "Hey, Mum and Dad... You will always be there for me, but I can't carry this pain forever."

[housemdork]

I came across one of your s2 ep analysis and I have to say I really appreciate the comphet take abt Wilson and how he views relationships in a lens tinted w sex as a transaction. I saw the recent ask about Wilson not being a perfectly good character and got even giddier bc it feels hella good seeing retroactive fandom discourse about Wilson and/or house in the context of the episode. Tbh the writing is something I feel is underappreciated since we view the show as dated and (at least I do) often end up reducing some of the messages as "good for its time" when sometimes I love how accidentally relatable and earnest house and Wilson's characters and by proxy relationship is compared to other TV friendships and clearcut romantic queer relationships respectively (for context I eat Hilson up as both a queerplatonic and romantic ship). I wonder if you feel the same way about the shows overall characterization watching it now vs back in 2004-7. Love how messy the characters' morals and behaviors are but are still presented as trying hard to be good

Anyway thank you op for your time 🙏 ig this isn't really an ask more than wanting to know more about your feelings on the show's early seasons as a whole not per ep I eat ur recaps Up have a good one aaa

THANK YOU FOR THIS QUESTION and for reading the recaps! it means sm <3 and if it's okay with you i may word dump in response. this warrants a read-more tab...

i completely agree - i certainly find the writing underappreciated. i've also said before that i wouldn't write about something this much if i had more critiques than praise for it; not that i wouldn't find parts to enjoy, but i don't wanna devote thousands of words to apologizing for/sweeping under the rug the 2000s of it all. of course, there are still episodes like "skin deep" that are pretty unforgivable (at least to me), but i think the word you used - "earnest" - is the heart of the matter. there's a certain fearlessness baked into house md, esp the earlier seasons, that, while engendering some Iffy Moments, actually does a lot of work to preserve the show's ingenuity and sincerity.

i fundamentally read house md as queer, and i don't qualify that with "well queer for the 2000s, i mean." i think you're in the same camp as me, too. that disclaimer takes away from that earnest that we don't always get today, in a world full of ticking boxes at the expense of rich characters with real lived experiences. personally, i wish there were far more nonbinary characters in the stories i enjoy today, but it's equally as important for those nonbinary characters to be fully realized people with "messy morals and behaviors." i wish we had both, and i think we can, but damn if i'm not tired of waiting lol -- this was a tangent lol, i apologize.

comphet wilson - for how silly it sounds written out like that lol - is a product of this textual sincerity and fearlessness.

there's a piece of literary criticism i read during my MA program that i'm gonna link here because it explains a lot of how i feel about house md's sticky position between dated humor and timeless human experiences: eve kovosky sedgwick's "paranoid reading and reparative reading: or, you're so paranoid, you probably think this essay is about you." if you can stand her dense talk about freud and 1990s queer theory, it's an excellent read.

this essence of this piece, and a lot of sedgwick's work in literary theory, is that there is such desolation in queer lives and queer narratives, that to sustain ourselves, we need to find aspects to reclaim in these texts. she's mostly talking to ppl like me (burgeoning literature phds and jaded literary critics), but the point stands that if we keep locating the suffering of queer folks, it becomes self-repeating, self-injuring, and self-flagellating. paranoid reading becomes about exposing the problems of a text; it's never about celebrating the merits therein, even if this evolves some degree of reclamation. she writes that,

"in a world where no one need be delusional to find evidence of systemic oppression, to theorize out of anything but a paranoid critical stance has come to seem naïve, pious, or complaisant" (125-6), meaning that, to read positivity into something that would easily be qualifiable as reductive, of the oppressor, hegemonic, etc., makes us ignorant and complacent.

she also states of queer studies that, "my impression...is that we are liable to produce this constative formulation...as if it had a self-evident imperative force: the notation that even paranoid [queer] people have enemies as if its absolutely necessary corollary were the injuction 'so you can never be paranoid enough'" (127), meaning that, in a society that has forced us into states of paranoia to avoid oppression, we reinforce paranoia at the expense of our own joy & liberation.

is that kinda insane to bring into a tumblr question about house md (2004-2012)? yeah, a little! but sedgwick invites us to abandon our constant, draining vigilance and let texts from freud to house md reinvigorate ourselves, to stop keeping an eye out for places where wilson's womanizing can mean more than "he's just a shitty womanizer," places where amber volakis is not just the "female house" but a character strung up with the dual-pronged weapon of heteronormativity and misogyny who STILL emerges intact, places where chase can be trans because it's rejuvenating to the viewers in the year 2025. we're not naïve for indulging in it. we're self-sustaining. THIS is called reparative reading <3

so yeah! i agree with how you characterize the show! i think tv today is too self-conscious to take the risks that lend house md to being read thru a queer lens. and i think the case we can make for wilson's compulsive heterosexuality may be one of the strongest examples of that. i am so sorry that this post is of biblical proportions, but as soon as i read your question, i knew i had to drag out that essay!

[alacants]

may u share some winner’s room thoughts 👀 never rlly thought abt this in the context of tennis but very interesting (and also goes to show how lonely of a sport it is) !!!!!

SINCE hrpf black mold is in the walls today. winner's room for those not familiar. actually for that matter i'm only moderately familiar with it, my engagement mostly comes from like. listening to my friends talk about their fic. so i'm sure there are aspects i'm not fully addressing here, sorry hrpf scholars.

the point of this trope is that it strips the post-match dynamic to the bare essentials. there is a winner, there is a loser, what does that mean sexually. (u might say it makes the sexual subtext of competition text.) you don't need the trope to explore these ideas, you can obviously write plain post-match fic and set up, like, the reasons and the context they're fucking. but in some cases—maybe not sincaraz, but like… idk… jannik/sasha bublik—you are fighting an uphill battle against suspension of disbelief. winner's room is a very neat and clean method of establishing all the right conditions, like a self-compiling code package. hit one key and cut straight to the chase of poking guys with sticks Exploring Ideas.

tennis is an even purer vessel for this bc in team sports it's… a team effort. (no shit.) that is to say ""you"" may or may not have lost the match. as i write this out i guess maybe that's one reason it's less necessary in tennis. you CAN just be like well then they hooked up after the match, walk with me here, and here's what it meant. (hello the post-rg final sincaraz tag.) whereas in team sports it's the trope that makes you assume that role—like, by definition, you are the guy in the winner's room so you are The guy that lost.

and the point of winner's room is that they have to confront the dynamic sexually. that's where the utility is in tennis rpf i think. for some ships, e.g. sinnettini, the winner/loser dynamic seems to be incidental to how the relationship is generally read/written/understood by fandom, so maybe there is actually quite a lot to be gained from forcing this into the conversation. for others, e.g. djokoraz… i mean you can't really have a take on that ship that isn't about the 2024 olympics, somehow. which should make it beside the point but actually just makes me want to read it more, aha, it's the beauty of simplicity. 

op just reread your ask and you are absolutely right that the isolated and peripatetic nature of tennis makes this even more fucked up aka DELICIOUS. sure life is fine if you travel with a close-knit team but what if you don't and your loser's moment in the winner's room is the closest approximation to human connection you've gotten for the last several months.

(from a worldbuilding perspective this can't be happening for every single player every single match, that's just not healthy. tourney finals, maybe?? designated top 10 matches??? would need to ponder this more.)

[muninnhuginn]

gonna have a go at a tbhx liveblog. tbh, idk if I'll keep this up or if it'll fade away, but let's have a go.

context in terms of my current knowledge of the series going in:

superheroes? something about public perception dictating how they're seen and some kind of 'trust' rating

one character takes on the role of another

yaoi in episode two(?)

crimes against women discourse

3d/2d animation - given how the other to be hero series operate I'm going to guess this is dependent on world but idk fully

I've seen 'to be hero' and 'to be heroine' so that'll also be informing some stuff here. oh! also, I'll be watching in chinese, though not sure in this case whether the japanese release gets edited down as it did for the previous series in this collection

will be using the tag '#mun watches that hero show' so as not to spam the main tag

Episode 1 thoughts below cut

unsubtle visuals my beloved. anyway, starting themes of the show are "everyone can be a hero" vs "the only path is to accept reality and work hard".

oooh okay nice episode title card. again, on the nose, but it's not like it *needs* to be subtle. also "41 years after commission", iseeisee.

"one day you'll be replaced by someone else" - okay, so. given one of the only spoilers I do know for this series, that's. well.

two seconds later. fingerguns out. wasn't expecting it *quite* that quickly, but comedic timing on point

"who you are is of no importance" - same thing as he was saying himself earlier, but context makes it come off pretty differently

"nice has been doing poorly ever since 'that incident'" taking notes taking notes. that'll definitely come back later

ah, belief system is largely how I'd thought it'd be? belief makes reality, essentially. "as long as we package you flawlessly" and they're having an ad guy do this. fitting.

this question is more fitting to be posed to an obsessive fan than a romantic partner ngl. oh nice, glasses blonde agrees with me

oof rip he actually knows the answer right down to the runtime. that's... kinda embarrassing. obsessive fan it is.

oh. right. okay, I forgot he'd been involved in making a load (all?) of these ads. he gets a pass but he's on thin ice

"she's always been my goddess". I'm taking so much damage here.

oooh the comboing 2d with 3d for the liquid and smokey effects. reminds me of arcane.

trust vs fear. another theme, methinks

so, the villains will represent a fear - in this case, being fired? makes sense. it's presented as though it's a general fear, but I expect that each fear will be relevant to lin ling in some way or another and become increasingly close to his personal fears as the show goes on....?

2d replay of 3d scene. backdrop is somewhat different now though. or rather, the lighting emphasises the poster with the shattered face and saturates out nice almost completely

not the falling imagery. I wasn't gonna make any of this about link click and I know link click doesn't have the monopoly on falling off buildings but. creator footprint.

"I hope that someday I'll be able to protect those worth protecting" noting down as more arc relevant words even if I suspect the first time around will Not go well

moon pulling lin ling out of his fear, not through any actions of her own, but through the marketable version of her he remembers

pshh the flickering between selves as he punches. jjk op vibes.

first re-emphasis of "anyone can be a hero"

interesting how he carries through the final attack still in 2d

visual contradiction. neat.

discussing nice choosing to throw himself off a building as they're heading up to the very top of another building. topical.

yeaaah. wasn't sure exactly how it'd happen but the crimes against women discourse had me thinking she'd die. I'm... not sure if it sticks or if she "comes back" then dies again? I was kinda trying to avoid spoilers but also vaguely curious. I guess I'll find out

Some misc thoughts overall:

Visually, this show seems really strong thus far. Imagery, how it combines the different art styles, how it switches between them for emphasis. Really works

Tonally... kinda all over the place. A lot of this is presented comedically with dark undertones so it's hard to know how seriously you're *meant* to be taking things

The ending (opening) sequence is incredibly focused on a guy we've not met yet, but with visual similarities to Nice. I've managed to avoid most of the promo stuff so I don't actually have a clue who this guy is, though the chess pieces make me think potential "chessmaster" archetype?

oh right. The part about the belief system that struck me the most was the way that Lin Ling's eye colour physically changed. Currently, we're getting all the mirror visuals and seeing Lin Ling's thoughts with him as "himself". I'm curious as to how far his "becoming" Nice will go and whether he'll be able to "return". There's also been a lack so far of information whatsoever about his life prior to this. Whether he has (had?) friends or family. He didn't seem to be calling anyone when he was at the top of the tower but that doesn't mean he *doesn't* have anyone.

Lin Ling's profession as an advertising guy in the context of the trust system. He tended to be on the back end of the marketing work rather than the forefront before this, sure, but it seems super relevant to me that his job was all about public perception. Also, the sheer number of advertising posters/video ads in the backdrop at all times was overwhelming but intentional. Weirdly, am being reminded of Go Go Loser Ranger with some of it

[bbatcat-09]

DISCLAIMER: 🗣️ THIS POST IS MEANT IN A FRIENDLY, ANALYTICAL WAY. I DONT WANT TO START DRAMA, I AM PROVIDING MY OPINION 🗣️

I’ve been seeing a lot of support for Mark/Clarissa recently (which is good and nice! I love diversity in opinions!), but occasionally it does come off as bashing Amanda/Clarissa (I’m sure this isn’t intentional though, you’re all lovely people <3) and I’m here to defend my OTP :) Essay under cut, with a TLDR at the end before the conclusion, in bold.

Clamanda, as a ship,is heavily dependent on context.

Firstly, due to the nature of the media, we get very little idea of Clarissa’s true thoughts and feelings. In my opinion, I see her experiencing heavy comphet; her mom is slowly dying, and says, “I’m not long for this world, honey. That’s why I’m so excited to see you get married.” I also hc that she lives in a fairly Christian area. The local priest is obviously Father Petrovsky and I mean. Uh. Nothing against him but also I’m like 75% sure he’d be against gay marriage (despite being played by Sam, who would certainly play him as accepting because he’s him, despite it being kinda out of character for Petrovsky) Also everything against him because have you HEARD the guy?! He’s like genuinely the world’s least empathetic priest, except all those megachurch fucks…

But I digress. My point is, small community = pressure to conform.

Secondly, Clarissa’s marriage to Mark is NOT a healthy one, nor is it done at a good point in their relationship. It’s a spur-of-the-moment, one-sided thing, which marriage should not be. Hell, Mark doesn’t even know he’s getting married until the day of! It was a legal process that served the purpose of an apology.

They promised to change, but marrying someone before any evidence* of change isn’t… a fab idea…

*I know she displays some evidence of being willing to change, but the fact is that the play takes place over maaaybe a week, MAXIMUM. That motivation could be gone within the month.That’s not to say I think it will be! I do truly believe she will make an effort, but will Mark do the same? He (understandably) never seems to fully forgive her on stage. (She took a call!! As he was proposing!! What the fuck?!?!! Maybe she was hoping it was Amanda…)

My third point is a HC that Clarissa and Amanda dated once when they were like early 20s, late teens maybe, and they truly were in love, but they had a sleepover once, got drunk, had sex, and when Clarissa woke up in the morning she was overwhelmed with guilt and regret and they broke up, and Amanda was very understanding. (This may or may not be the plot of my 20k choose your own adventure fanfic which is in progress, watch this space). They broke up on good terms, stayed friends, and maybe Mark and Clarissa got together out of convenience and societal expectations.

TLDR; 2 headcanons are stated, along with an analysis of the plot. The first HC is regarding Clarissa’s comphet, as inferred by OP from the source material. The analysis addresses the spur-of-the-moment marriage, and the implications. The second HC is that Clarissa and Amanda slept together once and Clarissa felt incredibly guilty (tying into the idea of Comphet).

Now, I understand that the play ending with Clarissa breaking up with Mark and marrying/getting together with Amanda would be a worse end. That would be one of the most selfish things Clarissa could have done. However, i do believe she and Amanda CAN work, without absolutely just screwing over Mark. I have a lot to say about him and Clarissa’s rocky relationship, but that’s for another post.

All of this is to say, the CONTEXT is most important for a ship like this to work:

- On one hand, Amanda and Clarissa get together right before the marriage and Mark… what, is left at the altar he was invited to? Oh my god that poor guy.

- On the other, Clarissa tells Mark, significantly after all the events of the play transpire, that she has realised she’s a lesbian. She treats him with compassion, and helps him get help for his own trauma. For several months, at the VERY LEAST, they can stay close (both geographically and emotionally), even when Clarissa starts dating Amanda. Especially when Clarissa starts dating Amanda.

***

Okay. I’m not sure how much this makes sense, I just wanted to get it out there. I love Clarissa/Amanda as a ship so much because of its complexity. Oh they make me sick. Okay bye hope you enjoyed the post please don’t be mean to me xoxo

PS: if you liked this post go look at @beiyuanism’s awesome take in the rbs! They wrote some original takes masterfully, added some more depth to some of my points in a way that I struggled to, and just oh my goodness gracious it’s brilliant.

[solalunar-eclipse]

Okay. Okay, I don’t normally do this, but I’ve been wanting to do some sort of analysis post recently and the Sonadow shipper inside me grabbed me by the throat and pointed in Netflix's direction, soooooo...let’s have a look at some clips of Sonic and Shadow interacting in Sonic Prime, shall we? (Putting this under a readmore because of all the images.)

The first clip comes from this post. (I don't know how to add that particular gif to my post, or else I'd put it here too, but oh well. I'm analyzing the first one, to be specific.)

So, we begin with Shadow walking away, saying “We’re going after Nine”.

Sonic then reaches out to stop him (with his right hand, despite the fact that he has to reach all the way across his own body to do so, possibly suggesting that Prime!Sonic is right-handed?). This seems to be just before Shadow’s noticed, because he’s still moving forward, looking resolved now that he’s decided what to do.

Shadow sees Sonic’s hand, and looks at it with an expression that seems…mildly irritated, but not outright angry. It’s about halfway between his “resting grumpy face” and his “actually angry face”, in my opinion.

He looks over at Sonic himself with a slightly angrier face (mainly made evident by the fact that the point in the middle of his brow is actually touching his muzzle instead of resting above it).

Then he looks back at Sonic’s hand again (in a pose that I swear is slightly different from the last one even if it doesn’t look that way). The only real difference is that he’s just looking down a little more. The effect of these last three images in actual motion, though, is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glance at the hand, up to Sonic, and then back to the hand. It's sort of a "huh-what-huh?!" motion, I think. To me, this gives off extremely strong “what the heck is even happening right now?!” energy.

For completion’s sake, I’m going to finish out the rest of the gif with these last three pictures. Shadow pulls away from Sonic at this point (which, fair, Sonic did grab him out of nowhere and he’s not normally very touchy-feely although this may be disproved in the next gif), and it may or may not have felt like a small punch to the gut for me to see Sonic’s hand outstretched like that, but anyway.

Shadow shifts into one of his patented I’m Trying To Be Cool And Aloof Despite Being An Adorable Three Foot Tall Hedgehog poses, complete with an eyeroll. He doesn’t actually seem that upset about Sonic touching him, however, I think it’s probably more the context of the situation. Shadow keeps insisting that Nine is a threat that needs to be stopped, and Sonic keeps preventing him from doing that, so his frustrated reaction seems to have much more to do with why Sonic touched him than the fact that he did so at all.

And, least but certainly not least, a cute contemplative (and still slightly grumpy) expression from Shadow. (He’s just adorable!! Aaaaaaa—)

Now then! Let’s move onto a really, really big one…

…The Hug™.

The post that I got this clip from actually has some really good points that I’m going to discuss further, so please go read that first! It won’t take long, and also everything the OP says there is absolutely true.

Ready? Here we go! (Please excuse the slightly crunchy pictures...the only way I was able to get this level of detailed analysis was by recording the gif, scrubbing through the frames, and taking screenshots of specific moments, which naturally led to some artifacting.)

So, what's just happened prior to this frame was Rebel Rouge saying happily, "Sonic, you're okay!". Sonic, like the goof he is, does not acknowledge this in any way, fully focused on introducing his boyfriend to his other Shatterspace pals. Instead, he's just looking over at Shadow. Notably, Shadow is instead looking up at Rebel. I'd like to think this is because Rebel has the most put-together and leader-like behavior out of the Rouge counterparts, so he could be waiting for her to continue speaking and give instructions or commentary on the situation, like she does with Team Dark in the games. That's just my take, though, he could just as well be generally on edge—he is in the middle of a battlefield, after all.

Smear frame!! This is included for the expressions as well as for completeness…but mostly for the expressions. Look at how big Sonic's eyes are. Look at how excited he is. He's so hyped to introduce his best rival to everyone. Shadow, meanwhile, looks like he just bluescreened out of pure shock. Sonic's yanking him over so fast he's all blurry, but we can see that his expression is basically 0—0 right now. He has been Touched and he is being Moved and he has not had time to process Why.

(Notably, however, he doesn't break the hold, despite the fact that he definitely could...)

Now, they’ve both settled into place (although ‘settled’ may be the wrong word for Shadow, haha). Sonic is doing what I can only describe as beaming—just look at him! He has a big smile on his face, and he looks almost proud to be introducing Shadow. It really shows how much Sonic values and respects him. (*sobs*) Shadow, meanwhile, has shifted from “what is happening” to “oh Chaos I am being held I am being hugged?? What??? Physical contact? Why????”. He just looks so stunned by the hug, it’s too adorable! More specifically, in addition to the obvious fact that his irises and pupils have shrunk and that he has very stiff posture, if you look very closely at the gif as well as at the following pictures, his ears are also standing up a little straighter and his quills have pushed back slightly, possibly prickling at the sudden contact? Interesting…

Here, we can see Shadow’s ears relax now that he’s processed what’s going on, and his quills have more of a visible curve to them instead of sticking out so much. He’s also glaring off to one side in a position that could either be interpreted as frustration at his current situation (though not so much that he’s willing to push away!!) or as embarrassment. Personally, I think it’s a little of both. Sonic, meanwhile, is still smiling like the sweetheart he is.

Now, we’re getting into the frames leading up to Sonic leaning into Shadow (aka one of the most precious moments of the show). Honestly, I don’t have too much to say about this one, except that Sonic is moving in a way that he would normally while talking right now (shifting around, because this boy has loads of energy) so I have a feeling Shadow probably doesn’t expect the cuddles that are coming his way, ehehe.

The Smush begins!! Shadow looks like he’s quickly resigned himself to his fate, but also decently irritated that he’s essentially getting side-snuggled in front of everyone. This could’ve been another part where he shoved Sonic off himself (goodness knows he did it before in Avoid the Void), and yet he doesn’t, leading to the best part of this whole moment!

Sonic, you smug hedgie. Shadow’s already letting you hug him, don’t push it with that smirk! Shadow does have his eyes closed here, suggesting to me that he is at least a little bit annoyed by now. Again, though, I think this has more to do with the fact that he’s essentially in front of an entire crowd, none of whom recognize or know him. I’ve seen someone else point out that Shadow gets more closed off in Prime when he’s around people aside from Sonic, so honestly, the fact that he’s putting up with this at all sure is…something. (Shipping goggles on: it could be because he appreciates Sonic’s affection enough that he’s willing to cope with the embarrassment if it means the cute annoying hedgehog next to him will hold him a little longer :] )

Okay, so this is really difficult to see, but look at Shadow’s wrist protectors in this image as well as the last one. See how there’s less of them visible in this picture here? That’s because, as the person who posted this gif noted, Sonic moves his hand up and down Shadow’s arm twice after cuddling up to him like this. It actually moves Shadow’s entire arm and shoulder up and down with the movement, making it look a little bit like a friendly rub or shake. Sort of like “hey, look at my grumpy friend, isn’t he great?”. Meanwhile, Sonic’s still looking smug, but I’m now wondering if it’s a bit of a knowing look as well? I mean, this is the one friend of his who’s truly known him for more than a few days. I’m wondering if there’s a bit of “‘ey, Shadow, c’mon, don’t be so shy! You’re my pal!” vibes here, partially because he knows it’ll annoy Shadow and partly because he just knows how Shadow is but wants to drag him into his circle of friends regardless. (Look at how much Sonic cares about Shadow, trying to make sure he’s included! So cute!!)

THE PAT. Two of Sonic’s fingers are lifted up here, which he then uses to give Shadow a light tap on the arm. THE AFFECTION. THE OBVIOUS CARE AND FRIENDLINESS IN THIS ONE SIMPLE ACTION. SONIC CARES ABOUT SHADOW SO OBVIOUSLY IT HURTS ME TO WATCH. MY HEART. No matter how many times Shadow puts up walls, Sonic smashes them down. After all, Shadow doesn’t get to be the only one who does things like keeping Sonic safe or helping him stay grounded! Sonic’s not going to pretend those things just didn’t happen—Shadow cares about him in his own awkward, emotionally constipated way, and Sonic is reciprocating. You can’t stop him, Shadow!

I’m skipping the smear frame here, just because Sonic and Shadow basically pop up and right into this position. Sonic’s two fingers come out of the tap/pat and straight into the peace sign, and now he’s smiling even more than he was at the start of this whole thing. His eyes are all big and shiny too—he’s clearly very happy to have introduced Shadow, and perhaps also quite happy that he’s getting this moment of prolonged physical contact with Shadow. Now, while Shadow’s shoulder is still kind of smushed upwards, which could indicate stress in another circumstance, it seems to me here that this is mainly because Sonic’s hand is pulling it upwards slightly. (Although, I’m afraid it does appear to be the case that Sonic and Shadow are approximately the same height in Prime—remember, Shadow’s ears aren’t as perky right now as Sonic’s, and the ears are really the only height difference between them here.) Shadow’s expression, however, is honestly quite neutral. Despite his previous discomfort (part of which, I just realized, could be because Sonic essentially was pushing him off balance. Shadow was tilted pretty far to his left, which could be a little awkward of a position to be in, especially for an extended period of time), he doesn’t look bothered at all, instead just quietly existing in this situation. Most of the irritability in his expression comes from his angular eyes and his aforementioned “resting grumpy face”, honestly.

(I couldn’t find any gif that includes this next part—probably because the camera cuts away from Sonic and Shadow here for a moment to show the general confusion of the Shatterverse folks—but when it cuts back, Shadow is still standing there with Sonic’s arm around him. Heck, he looks willing to continue standing there for however long Sonic stays next to him, only pulling away when Nine comes back and makes noise, reminding everyone that we’re in the middle of a battle for everyone’s survival here. And when he does pull away, Sonic is dragged with him, which is probably mostly for laughs, but does also imply that a) he was holding onto Shadow pretty tightly and b) he wasn’t expecting to have to let go even AFTER Nine made himself known.)

This post is long enough already (and I drafted it when I could've been going to sleep, because the force of Sonadow infected me), so I won't be doing the "Shadow saves Sonic" scene just yet (unless a lot of people want to see that). For now, though, thanks for bearing with me throughout my descent into madness over these two. And if you want me to take a look at other gifs, feel free to send them my way or put them in a reblog and I'll see if I can make the time to analyze them!

[horreurscopes]

So, I could be out-of-bounds here since I think you meant it as dark humor, but what did you mean in the tags of that 'israel-hamas war' post? I suspect you(and op) are criticizing that framing because Israel is obviously demolishing much more than 'Hamas'(and probably doing a terrible job of actually targeting terrorists- they seem content to reduce Gaza to rubble even if the brass of Hamas escapes). I'm guessing that by saying "joining the Israel-Hamas war on the side of Hamas" you mean, if they're going to conflate Palestinians with Hamas unilaterally, then you're saying, whatever the media wants to call Palestinian civilians- you still support them. I am asking anyways though bc, given reports of increasing antisemitic activity in the US and Europe, I am worried about the potential for blurring lines between the cause of Palestinian civilians and the alt-right individuals who are likely masking their antisemitism in the context of being anti-Zionist. Although Israel's government has been the source of Palestinian loss for decades, (it seems to me that) even joking about supporting terrorism is enough to reinforce the persuasion that Israeli/Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs must be mutually-exclusive peoples. I don't think it's fully rational per se(tho I'm not claiming to have all the relevant information myself, and I'm white US American goyim so like- grain of salt-), but I think that existential fear is the incredible hurdle facing Zionist Jews. (Idc too much about the opinions of non-Jewish Zionists bc I don't grant that they are dealing with the same emotional complications at this time, although that doesn't stop me from arguing w my acquaintances abt their callous acceptance of US/Israeli propaganda.) I just think..... isn't it overall harmful to allow anti-semitic rhetoric, even used sarcastically, to enter the genuine humanist cause for Palestinian liberation? Or, have I misunderstood, and you actually are not in opposition to Hamas, or something else I didn't think of?

hi! thank you for approaching the question thoughtfully and with curiosity, i really appreciate it. i was being kind of flippant with that meme, but this is the only ask i'm going to reply to on the matter given that i am neither jewish nor arab, so i'm going to answer in earnest:

hamas is a political resistance movement with an armed wing, much like the black panthers party was, and like the bpp, a large part of the organization is dedicated to social welfare and civic restoration.

they have stated that they are not against judaism, but against the zionist project. they openly support political solutions.

labeling hamas a terrorist group is a propaganda tactic used by the united states and israel to justify the horrors of settler colonization.

hamas is palestine, a part of it, even if palestinians like any other demographic on earth, are not a unified, single-minded people. to declare hamas a separate entity falls prey to the imperialist lie that there is an enemy to fight "fairly" within the people they are displacing and exterminating.

am i rejoicing in the deaths of israelis? of course not. killing civilians and taking civilian hostages is a war crime, whether it is committed by the opresor or the oppressed. the israeli government is not its people, and many jews, within israel as well as in the US, are bravely risking their lives to publicly dissent the criminal acts of the israeli government. all loss of human life is a tragedy.

no one should ever be faced with the choice between annihilation and murderous violence after exhausting all other forms of peaceful protest and being massacred like animals.

but why is it that we consider a resistance group formed within a population with a median age of eighteen a terrorist group, and not the IDF, a US-backed military force with an annual budget of twenty billion dollars?

i am currently reading hamas and civil society in gaza by sara roy to learn more about hamas and the history of israel in palestine. i'll remember to post more excerpts which i am admittedly terrible at.

but all of the information above can be found by reading wikipedia. investigating with duckduckgo searches (not gonna pretend google isn't prioritizing propaganda, to be fair), and reading reliable news coverage like aljazeera and the many journalists who are at risk of, or have lost their lives, reporting on the ground.

i have also appreciated reading posts from @determinate-negation @opencommunion @fairuzfan @ibtisams and @bloglikeanegyptian amongst others

in conclusion: