#without really acknowledging why

[springcatalyst]

thinking oc thoughts. everything comes back to milo being a storyteller

[jynxedshapeshifter]

I mentioned a while ago during my second playthrough of AA4 that I managed to pinpoint the exact moment this case turns Klavier's world upside down (that being, the moment he realizes Kristoph manipulated him), but I don't remember if I ever posted screenshots of what I meant by that. These are those screenshots. Immediately after this, Klavier requests permission to ask Vera a question. This question is what the first non-painting forgery she made was. He gets confirmation that the forgery was what he thinks it was and breaks down.

Now at first, one might be inclined to say "Well, we don't know that he made the connection to Kristoph, he could've thought Phoenix commissioned the forgery!" but I disagree, because the internal conflict that Kristoph planted in him by telling him Phoenix was going to present forged evidence is why Klavier took a break from prosecuting. Klavier was already suspicious of Kristoph at this point. Klavier doesn't seem even a little surprised when he mentions to Kristoph that not only is he being accused of murder again, but Apollo's the one accusing him. Again.

There's so much Klavier was probably feeling here. Betrayal, if we assume he put the pieces together and realized Kristoph commissioned the forgery. Guilt, assuming he, at the very least, realized Phoenix didn't commission the forgery. Anger, because what the fuck.

This was such a dick move on Phoenix's end too. This whole case is Phoenix using Kristoph's former employee and Kristoph's younger brother as pawns against him. Sure, you could argue that Phoenix thought this was a good way to make Klavier aware of Kristoph's actions, but at the same time, I can't really help but feel like Phoenix also did this because it was Klavier who accused him of forgery, even if subconsciously. We know he's willing to hold a years-long grudge because he does exactly that with Kristoph.

It's interesting because it shows multiple things about Phoenix:

He's not above using manipulation to get what he wants (justice, in this case)

He's not above using people as pawns in his plans

When he wants revenge, he will get it, even if that means emotionally fucking over multiple people (because even if he wasn't trying to get revenge on Klavier, he absoloutely fucked him over emotionally. I can't imagine Kristoph's involvement in this case was good for Apollo emotionally either)

The ONLY reason Phoenix is better than Kristoph in AA4 is because Phoenix is manipulative for the sake of justice, while Kristoph is manipulative for the sake of his own ego. They're on total opposite ends of the morality spectrum but both manipulate and use people for the sake of their own goals (and they both specifically manipulate and use Apollo and Klavier and each other for the sake of these goals).

It's fascinating, and I'm honestly really sad that this is the only time we see this side of Phoenix, even if it does make sense why this is the only time we see this side of Phoenix (and it's also probably a good thing this is the only time we see this side of Phoenix because I think if we ever saw it again, we'd know something fucked up is going on).

Idk. Klavier needs a hug and Phoenix shouldn't have taken out his bitterness toward Kristoph on Apollo and Klavier regardless of how good his intentions were

[boredbakedbeans]

class divide & struggle in haikyuu

haikyuu twitter has brought up the theme of class struggle in hq and it really got me thinking just how subtle and effective furudate is in portraying class divide throughout the story.

hinata is introduced riding a bike, seeing volleyball through a store TV (not his own like Hoshiumi, Ushijima, Kageyama), and years later he's still riding a bike up and down a mountain every day for an hour to get to school and practice. how the gyms in the public schools like nekoma and karasuno have stages because they're multipurpose, as opposed to the specific volleyball facilities that shiratorizawa and other private schools have. the bond that nekoma and karasuno have as being the public schools in their prefectures, being known as "scavengers", taking what they can get and fighting tooth and nail for it. THE DUMPSTER BATTLE.

Shiratorizawa Academy vs. Karasuno High. almost every other school (aoba johsai, shiratorizawa, kamomedai) having non-volleyball team-specific tracksuits and merch, while karasuno wears the generic "ics" athletic wear. star players like ushijima and hirugami having family that played pro-volleyball and got them started from a young age in professional spaces.

daichi's nightmare about the basketball team overtaking their gym and not letting them practice. kageyama noticing right away that the floors in the all-japan youth camp weren't wooden. takeda working overtime to try to get gyms reserved, practice matches organized, buses rented out. ukai still working at his grocery store his entire first year coaching karasuno (suggesting that karasuno couldn't afford to pay him enough).

karasuno having to adjust to the lights and the height of the ceiling at nationals, when all the other teams were used to it. karasuno renting out that little old inn for nationals, right next to the giant, 25-floor hotel that other teams were staying in. inarizaki intimidating their opponents with their huge student section, affording to literally transfer an entire student BAND from hyogo to tokyo.

it's the reason that there's something specifically annoying about ushijima when we first meet him, something off-putting as we see hinata and kageyama watching shiratorizawa practicing for the first time in their fancy gym at their huge school. something infuriating about hearing ushijima talk down to hinata and basically dismiss karasuno as a threat entirely. when ushijima says aoba johsai is "infertile soil", hinata thinks, if they are infertile soil, then I Am Hinata Shoyo from the Concrete. and our concrete school, despite all odds, despite lack of resources and funding and reputation, will still beat you. i don't have what you have and yet i will still make it to the top!!!!!!!

[bittersweet-jack-of-no-trades]

I'm sure this has been done before but Gravity Falls/Hunger Games AU? The 50th games/2nd Quarter Quell becomes even more dramatic because in one of the districts, the two male tributes are twins??

This year becomes one of the longest-running games in history; sparked in part by the Capitol's obsession with the twins, Stan and Ford, who have an argument early on and split ways. Stan becomes an expert in hiding and running, making and then breaking alliances as the other tributes inevitably try to use him to get to Ford. But why get to Ford?

Because Ford is excelling. The dangerous and odd mutations of the arena become his fascination and his strength. Probably also because during the pre-game process the Capitol got enamored with his six fingers and awkward attitude and view him as this weird little oddball underdog, and that infuriates especially the Careers. Stan is fighting for his life every day, and thinks Ford is doing the same--- but Ford has a mysterious, anonymous sponsor who sends him everything he needs, signing each note with not a name but a little triangle. The major upset comes when, of course, the last two tributes alive are Stan and Ford. The games end when Stan unceremoniously pushes Ford off a cliff and into the river below.

(Ford, of course, does not actually die. His sponsor was Bill, duh, who I picture as a Heavensbee-like figure, a gamemaker who is actually aligned with D13, more for the chaos than any sense of rebellion or morals. He takes Ford and deposits him in D13 to aid in the rebellion.)

Stan becomes the Haymitch-like drunken, lonely Victor who no one wants to interact with. His district, under his angry tutelage, goes through a period of losing. Then, the 74th games.

When they call Dipper's name, Mabel tries to volunteer. She can't, because she's a girl, but that doesn't stop her from trying so hard the Peacekeepers have to hold her down. So, she does the next best thing: when the girl's name is called, she volunteers again, pushing her way into the games despite Dipper's dismay.

They know Stan is their grunkle, but he's estranged and their first real interactions happen with him as their mentor. He assures them repeatedly they will turn on each other; Dipper and Mabel use the power of twins to win the Capitol's support as gamemakers dramatically drudge up reminders of what happened to the last set of twins. It's the "twins" angle rather than the original books' "star-crossed lovers" angle that earns the twins the right to win as a pair (can you imagine how Stan felt, knowing if he was just a little smarter he and Ford could've been spared, too?).

Eventually, D13's existence is revealed, Ford is shown to be alive, Stan goes through the reverse 7 stages of grief and probably also a lot of booze, etc. etc. They defeat the presidents (probably the Northwests, Pacifica would make a decent President's granddaughter), and end up taking down Bill too as his goal was, of course, to take dictatorial rule in the creation of the power vacuum.

[moeblob]

Because his inner monologues really are just. So long. And I think it's important to show how much this guy thinks in order to say "not quite".

[fractempyreal]

~

[qoldenskies]

Donnie for sure the second youngest but I don’t think he probably thinks of Leo as older practically. They’re probably only a few months apart at most and I don’t think Donnie would consider that developmentally significant enough to see Leo as a big brother like he does Raph. Leo on the other hand, absolutely views Donnie as a bratty little brother. Basically they’re not twins but still do the twin thing when someone asks who’s older.

Younger: we’re twins it doesn’t mat-

Older: me I’m older

its honestly why i usually like to make their twinship a compromise for donnie's sake. he doesn't really accept the idea of there being a power dynamic between them with their ages (even though there kind of is? raph and leo are in their own little camp separate from donnie and mikey, it's pretty clear by the way raph puts so much pressure on leo in particular) and i usually dont have him bring it up much it at all unless he's thinking more about mikey because i think them having solidarity over having to deal with their older brother bullshit is true and like. genuinely kind of canon? they're so fed up with them LOL

like ngl i actually care so much about second youngest donnie BECAUSE of his relationship with mikey. b team is my favorite thing in the world

(also yes absolutely no matter how small the gap is to me, leo will use EVERY opportunity to hold it over donnie's head. i mean i think episodes like lair games make that clear. when he grabbed donnie's vambrace and held it out of reach in smart lair too LMFAO... genuine bastard older brother behavior)

[total-drama-brainrot]

How would Alejandro react to Assistant Noah complimenting the charmer for manipulating Sierra WITHOUT flirting with her + for tricking Sierra into embarrassing his boss (Chris Mclean)? 😎

Well. If Noah's complimenting Alejandro for his sabotage of Sierra in New York, the first thing he'd try to do is deny it entirely.

Despite being proud of his skills in manipulation, a lot of Alejandro's gameplan rides on him being seen as genuine and trustworthy by those around him - straight up admitting that he tricked Sierra into falling out of Chris' good graces would be a blow to the manifacutred image of a chivalrous and good-spirited Alejandro, which is what he presents himself in the early competition.

He does something along these lines to Heather when she calls him out for exactly this in the episode. Though, it's less outright denial and moreso redirection of her attention... via flirting... Speaking of Heather, the only reason Alejandro is fine with her suspicion/antagonism is because he knows that no one else is going to listen to her. If anything, Heather's "dislike" of him lends credence to his act - since any enemy of Heather's is automatically a friend of pretty much the rest of the cast.

Of course, Noah would see straight through the paper-thin lies, because he's got the same perspective as the audience (that is to say, he's got a third party perspective of the competiton and can easily recognise Alejandro as the season's main "villain", plus he's seen the confessionals) and, in all likelihood, had a hand in casting Alejandro in the first place to be the antagonist; of course he knows Alejandro's true colours.

So Alejandro would be met with a conflict of interests here; on the one hand, he's been given the perfect oppertunity to build a rapport with Chris' personal assistant, potentially ensuring himself some insider help for the competition at hand and - if he plays his cards right - knowledge and blackmail material on his competitors.

On the other hand, he'd have to drop his act to do so, which could be disasterous should any of his other castmates see and/or overhear.

Plus, Noah specifying that he's impressed that Alejandro can manipulate people without flirting would be a point of contention between the two, or at least a percieved jab at Alejandro. He's a very capable and very prideful person by nature, and Noah implying that he had previously assumed Alejandro only knew how to exploit people via seduction/flirting would absolutely be taken as an insult, even if it wasn't meant to be.

Though I doubt Alejandro would put two and two together in this instance and realise that it's just a round-about way of Noah asking him if all of the flirting he'd done towards Noah himself was an attempt at manipulation or not.

Personally I see this whole scenario being a poorly worded olive branch on Noah's part which Alejandro unintentionally snubs, thus cementing Noah's initial "dislike" and distrust of Alejandro.

As a result, Alejandro would fail to react at all, too overcome with indecision to reply in time before Noah's interest/investment in the conversation wavers and he walks away. Leaving Alejandro to stand there dumbly, wondering how Noah could so easily pick up on his schemes when everyone else (sans Heather) is clueless.

[butwhatifidothis]

I LOVED To Be a Creature, and it genuinely creeped me out to see the things Edelgard and Hubert said to Byleth (though it's the same as the game, stripped out of its voice acting and background music, the dialogue is so much more horrifying). Really makes me wonder if Edelgard's love for Byleth is genuine in any way. Do you think there's any real love there or is it just obsession?

Thank you!!! I had a feeling that placing Edelgard and Hubert's words in a context that isn't meant to make them look flattering would really let their casual racism shine, and I'm glad it's seeming like that is in fact the impression people are getting lol. SO sorry for the late answer btw 😭😭😭

As for whether Edelgard's love is genuine... I got opinions lmao.

got a bit long lmao under the cut it goes

If Edelgard felt the way she does for Byleth on exclusively SS and CF, I could maybe see how this is a "genuine" love (insofar as a love steeped in "I may hate your race but you're special and Not Like The Other Ones because I think you're special to me" can, uh, ever be genuine, in any case). But because Edelgard still feels as strongly towards Byleth on AM and VW where she quite literally never talks to them directly in any meaningful way, it becomes waaaaay more like she's just weirdly obsessed with this person who saved her one singular time ever five years ago from an attack Edelgard set up. It makes the "love" way more forced and contrived and obviously trying to squeeze tears out of the player for standing up against the cute girly trying to murder them. Or, alternatively, it makes Edelgard come off as manipulative, saying that she just wanted to walk with Byleth and it makes her so sad to HAVE to fight Byleth because BYLETH wouldn't stand by HER - and she's saying this on AM/VW to a person she's talked to in conversation a cumulative, what? Hour? Two? Maybe a few days, being nice? Over the course of, being as absolutely generous as physically possible and not counting the five years Byleth was missing... two fucking years? She's shitting herself over fighting this stranger she doesn't fucking know? Yeah, sure buddy, whatever you say - you see what I mean?

And honestly even outside of those two routes, I think it's more that she sees Byleth as being hers rather than actually liking them for who they are. A body to stand next to her and tell her how right she is and comfort her - who doesn't have the background of "I was literally raised to think this is my only purpose in life" muddying the sincerity of the brown-nosing - who also happens to also act as The Perfect Fighter and The Perfect Strategist to actively help her get what she wants. That view of Byleth being a tool doesn't really go away unless they marry her, seen by how they quite literally get nothing for all they've done for Edelgard should they go unmarried to a noble (guess they just weren't meritable enough once their use to her was done).

As well as how much more Edelgard doesn't like Byleth disagreeing with her or otherwise going against her flow than pretty much anyone else in the game - you lose supports points if you don't think the Black Eagle Strike Force name she made is good, she quickly denies the notion that Byleth isn't detached from others/emotions and insists they are just like she is, she gives them the same callous and thoughtless words she was apparently given once in her life while they are in the midst of mourning their recently murdered father so that they get over it already and get back to being useful to her (directly saying she will only reach out her hand when it's time for HER to move forward, not when BYLETH heals from WATCHING THEIR DAD DIE IN THEIR FUCKING ARMS MAYBE A WEEK AGO). She never treats Byleth kindly unless they do everything she wants, which like. Isn't love???? At all????

There's just this... weirdly possessive air Edelgard has around Byleth that always threw me off, especially with how easily she admits to have been willing to kill them so far into CF and how readily she cuts ties with them the second the fighting's done (which is particular because how just how clingy she was to Byleth everywhere else - you know during all that time Byleth had a use to her). Incorporating that into being an intentional part of her character is certainly interesting, but not in a way that's flattering to the idea of Edelgard genuinely being in love with Byleth lmao.

Personally tho, even disregarding almost everything else, the simple explanation is that I don't think you can really sit there and say you love someone while openly hating part of their racial heritage. Wild thought, I know lmao

[likealittleheartbeat]

Why in the first season do we have the motif of Zuko stealing Katara’s mother’s betrothal necklace? Some point to a romantic subtext being read into this that, they argue, later gets ignored in order to prop up a problematic relationship for Katara with Aang, the protagonist. But if there’s subtext to be read in the theft of a betrothal token from a subjugated female by a male imperial representative, however, it’s the subtext of rape.

Why is it that it’s the women in the southern water tribe are gone? Ostensibly because they were the benders—but there’s a darker undertone, especially when we consider the clearly made analogy to indigenous peoples in North America, where even to this day native women are 2 times more likely to experience rape than those from other races. The fact that the necklace was her mother’s illustrates this legacy and connection, pointing us back to the original invasion of the tribe by the Fire nation, the attack on Katara’s mother by a single soldier inside their home (allowed in in order to protect Katara) and how Zuko’s actions at the beginning of the series echo it. This is not an auspicious place to begin a relationship if that’s what the writers were planning. Traditional enemies-to-lovers arcs usually involve prejudice but usually tied to pride, less so that kind of sexual violence. Despite Romeo and Juliet coming from warring families, it’s never implied that Romeo committed war crimes in the first act, especially not against the girl who falls for him, so we should perhaps be clued in that something different is going on in Katara and Zuko’s dynamic.

The intense rage, fear, and defense Katara puts up against Zuko in the finale of the first season (right after she has had to face the misogyny among her own people) is evocative of her response to his assaults throughout the first season. If this was not enough, we then have the rape of the moon spirit and the sacrifice of Yue for her people happening in the background, all pointing us back to the gendered violence of the empire Katara’s living under and fighting against. Her battle is not passionate because she secretly loves Zuko. She is doing everything within her power to protect herself and the spirit (literally the Avatar and figuratively within herself) that she has kept kindled despite the violent attempts to wipe it out—Zuko eventually prevails and steals a precious thing from her again…

When Katara and Zuko are imprisoned together during “The Crossroads of Destiny,” often seen as the peak of their romantic tension, they discuss their mothers, and Katara learns about the loss of Zuko’s mother (which we’re encouraged by the symbolism in the first season to read through the symbolic lens of gendered abuse and sexual violence, only now it’s domestic and internal rather than imperial). Zuko’s shift to a pitiable victim of abuse has softened his monstrous face for us, and the same happens to Katara in the catacombs, to the point where she’s willing to share a spiritual token with him.

It’s remarkable in the scene that, after being interrupted, there’s an effort made to remind the audience of Aang and Zuko’s continued antagonism—they glare at each other despite being in the embrace of the person who cares most about them in the world. And in the next scene, it’s revealed that Katara and Zuko’s reconciliation is actually not enough to transform Zuko’s loyalties. His desires for Aang and the redemption he can offer are too great.

In fact, throughout this couple of scenes, Zuko shows no interest in possessing or learning about Katara. She spouts off her grievances without his request, and then he shares his own loss only in defense to Katara's accusations and self-recognition in her stories, not as consolations for her pain. And Katara is moved by his vulnerability because she is so eager to see more evil within imperial power. She wants to hear the truth about how even those within it are injured. With all the feminine fantasy of being able to fix the behavior that toxic masculinity has induced, she suggests her spirit water might alleviate the scar Zuko bears--no forethought about preserving it for her own needs. Zuko doesn’t even request or accept the spirit water she offers him. It's all Katara. You'll be hard pressed to find a moment where Zuko expresses desire for Katara in this scene, a definite difference from his sexual aggression towards her in the first season. We as an audience are actually moved by his lack of desire her and what she has to offer because Katara is finally free from his predation (though it was only his initial violence that makes this neutral kind of freedom feel heartening).

The eventual gesture of Katara healing Zuko in “Sozin’s Comet” is free of his desire as well, unless you count the desire to protect a non-combatant, which has been Zuko’s reoccurring theme throughout the series, Katara or no (when he chooses the safety of his crew in "the storm," his advocacy for the lives of the fire nation soldiers that led him to banishment, etc.). The suggestion of rape arises here again with the penetrative nature of lightning, but the show has really complicated it’s gender dynamics by having Azula direct it, pointing to imperialism as the core concern rather than a simplified feminist reading. When Katara heals him, it's after she's cared for herself and defeated Azula now, and the words exchanged are "thank you," words of cordiality and comradery. They touch, but they are touches of equal counterparts rather than romance.

Reading romance into the simple refusal to commit colonial rape seems like a fairly low bar. This is neither what Katara nor Zuko are seeking out over the expanse of the series. They are looking for the transformative hope, action, and balance that the Avatar embodies, which, if anything allows them to stop fixating on each other and the dynamic of feminine colonized victim and masculine imperial patriarch that their world would have them locked into forever.

Aang does not go back in time to fix it all, but he brings an acceptance of reality that still allows for change. And this applies to the emotional states for the characters. Finding balance. Their griefs are not gone but not totalizing, either. They don't have to obsess or ruminate on it, or on the person who embodies the "problem" for them. The balance that the Avatar brings (and the fantasy that the show concludes with) is not a world in which the violence of colonialism never occurred but a world in which emotional release is possible from the intensifying dynamics colonialism forces its subjects into to sustain itself.

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

eli should've been allowed to be mad at robby about the shaving thing for longer than five minutes, in this essay i will-

[voidimp]

really not loving this trend lately of acting like shaving makes you a disgrace to the whole fucking queer community

like we really went from "not shaving is totally fine and good, body hair is completely natural & not gross" (correct) to "shaving is disgusting and unnatural, why would you do that to you body" (hmmm sounds kinda familiar) & even "its literally impossible to have dysphoria or sensory issues due to body hair/want to shave for any reason other than to appeal to patriarchal beauty standards & anyone who says they do is lying" (real, actual things i have seen people say, what in the god damn)

you can shave your face you can shave your head but as soon as its below the neck suddenly shaving is some sort of unforgivable crime. god forbid someone doesnt like the way it feels when their clothes rub against every little fucking hair. god forbid they dont like how it holds in sweat. god forbid they dont like how it holds in heat. god forbid they dont fucking like how it looks on them.

like. is the word "choice" not in peoples fucking vocabulary or something

[pinnithin]

yknow i didn't necessarily start my wyll origin run with the intent of romancing astarion in mind but the more i play the more i find their similarities amusing when it comes to like, the surface level personality they present to strangers in act 1.

wyll is a compulsive flirt. you see it in dialogue with shadowheart and lae'zel - he just tosses out a couple lines that clearly aren't supposed to go anywhere (asking lae'zel if she believes in love at first sight, blatantly reusing the same flirtation attempts with shadowheart) and i see this as part of his Blade of Frontiers persona. obviously a traveling vigilante would have no time for romance or relationships, but he's socially aware enough to have learned that people respond well to a certain level of rogueish charm. especially if his reputation precedes him. he can safely and positively engage in surface level flirtations with the people he interacts with because the person doing the flirting isn't real - at least not to him. he often says the Blade is his best self, but to him its an ideal he strives to achieve, not the person he really is. and i imagine that includes the ability to give discouraged people positive attention in a nonthreatening way. its safe. its superficial. he doesn't have to follow through.

this is overshadowed somewhat by astarion's tendency to flirt with anything that has a pulse, but the perspective they both have on it is pretty similar. theyre both coming from a place of not actually being interested in the recipient of their attention - whether that be through astarion's ulterior motives or wyll's lack of capacity for a relationship - but they both still put on this front because it's habitual. it's worked for them and it's gotten them through the varying degrees of social contracts they find themselves in. so they wind up trading lines easily because they've studied from the same script.

anyway what im getting at is bumping these two personalities against each other can definitely result in wyll and astarion committing to the bit so hard they accidentally wind up in a relationship. like, you're safe, you know the rules, you're speaking in a language i'm familiar with but we both understand that neither of us expect anything back on an emotional level. wait when did we start confiding our deepest secrets with one another. what do you mean you trust me.

[hanzajesthanza]

"the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story can't hurt you!!"

the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story:

[thatscarletflycatcher]

One of the biggest problems of writing that Frasier post is that the logic of 90s comedies is not real life logic. It's not just that you can just pick which exaggerated thing to believe more (and sometimes you need to outright pick between two mutually excluding canon facts), but also the degree to which you believe anything. Which is fun for theorizing but also terrible for theorizing because to argue one way or another you need to create the fiction that the coherent narrative you are pointing out has value of truth in a universe where the value of truth is the rule of funny.

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

i unraveled half a dishcloth about 3 times because i was having a toxic man-refusing-to-ask-for-directions moment and kept telling myself "nah you've knit stacks of these and it's literally the easiest pattern" and ignoring the fact that i've been crocheting for 3-4 years and could really spare 5 seconds to google a pattern as a refresher