#/doesn’t completely portray their characters and what they’re going through

[alienssstufff]

q!dapduo parallels in how they handle grief so INTERESTING I LOVE IT (I hate it. I wish they were still alive).

We got q!Slime who while yes he did threaten the lives of others, ultimately and interestingly he never blamed anyone else except himself (and his wife). Slime destroys because he is upset at himself.

Then we got q!Quackity who even if he doesn’t physically lash out or go on a rampage like q!Slime did, he pins the blame on everyone else and to this day is plotting to kill the dude for revenge - Quackity destroys because he’s upset at the world (and even more himself too, but he has not comes to terms with that yet)

[sleepingdeath-light]

relationship hcs ; adam

requested by ; mod / self indulgent

fandom(s) ; hazbin hotel

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; adam

outline ; “dating headcanons for adam”

note ; this may be a smidge out of character as i have never written for him before, but hopefully you’re able to enjoy these headcanons regardless ^^

warning(s) ; some canon-typical douchbag behaviour, but mostly fluff!

for as much of an asshole as adam can be, once he’s committed to someone he’s loyal as hell — granted it’s difficult to get a playboy like him to agree to complete monogamy, but it’s not a complete impossibility if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to get to that point with him

hes got an extremely prominent (and, frankly, nasty) possessive streak that he makes pretty much no effort to hide — like the moment he gets jealous of someone, no matter how irrational that feeling, he’s not above going as far as just grabbing you and making out with you in front of them just to prove that you’re taken and adam is not someone who likes to share what’s his

this possessiveness is in good part because of how his past relationships ended (with the two women that were literally made for him either leaving him outright or cheating on him with the same man) and the insecurities that naturally spawned from those experiences — yes he may be the cockiest bastard in all of heaven, and he talks big game about being ‘the dickmaster’ or ‘the original dick’ and all of that nonsense, but once the two of you become an item he is terrified of losing you and seems to make it his mission to ward off any outside threats to your relationship and warn you away from anyone who he can’t scare off

(e.g. openly and frequently shit talking lucifer, hell, and the sinners he kills — portraying them as unequivocally monstrous and cruel without the chance for redemption / being unworthy of your empathy or time in an effort to keep you as disinterested and far from him as possible)

reassurance and praise goes a long way with adam, even if he does tend to outwardly either brush it off or turn it into something more sexual, even more so if you give him something concrete to show that love and praise — e.g. he’s the type of guy to keep every single card you get him for your anniversaries, his birthday (well… creation day would be a better name in his case), or valentine’s day, in a locked box or drawer for him to look through whenever he feels a bit low whilst also outwardly denying being so ‘sappy’ and sentimental

it takes a while for him to feel comfortable taking off his mask around you, but once that you’ve gotten over that particular hurdle and made your attraction and appreciation for his appearance as clear as possible, you’ll pretty much never see him wear it again — well, at least not in the privacy of your home… outside is a very different story

not at all shy about physical affection in private or in public — like from the moment the two of you confess your feelings you’ll have a hard time getting his hands off of you for more than a few minutes at a time (unless you make it clear that you’re not a touchy person, of course… he’s not a complete asshole when it comes to you and he certainly doesn’t want to make the best thing to happen to him since eden go running for the hills)

his favourite place to kiss you is on the lips (he’s the first man, as he oh so loves reminding everyone in earshot, forgive him for the basic choice) and his kisses are all so passionate that it almost feels like he’s worried you’ll vanish the moment he lets go — they’re wet and messy and steal the breath straight from your lungs, yes, and by the end of it you’ll get to see him with his cheeks all flushed and golden eyes gleaming with mischief, passion, and overwhelming affection, but there’s also the smallest hint of something else in his kisses that you can’t quite place (and that you rarely have the chance to linger on before you’re dragged somewhere more private by him to let things get a bit less ‘pg’, or he’s hurrying away to take part in an extermination or to fulfil some other such heavenly duty that sera probably asked him to do weeks ago)

loves having his hair played with and will fall asleep in minutes if you start slowly and gently carding your fingers through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp when he’s laying on your lap — would never admit it though and will go straight as a board and almost shout-talk over you to try and preserve his reputation if you try and bring it up around anyone else (especially lute because she would never let him live that down)

mainly just calls you ‘babe’ or your first name, and maybe the occasional ‘baby’ — though he’s responsive to any and every pet name you give him over the course of your relationship, even the more ridiculous/humourous ones

he keeps an eye out for you at every gig he plays with his band, visibly brightening when he catches sight of you and even pointing you out as his ‘smoking hot partner’ to the crowd before playing one of the dozens of songs he’s dedicated to you — none of them are explicitly love songs, but he thought of you when writing them and that’s enough to gain a dedication in his eyes

isn’t above using his position as the first man to benefit you and your relationship — that can mean anything from rearranging his and your schedules to make sure that you always get to spend some time together each day, or threatening anyone with banishment or some other punishment for making you uncomfortable (it may be heaven but nowhere is completely safe from assholes… adam himself is proof of that)

you’re absolutely spoiled rotten but he always runs any major gifts past lute (who you’re basically guaranteed to have as a close companion after getting with adam) before he gives them to you because he doesn’t want to risk giving you something you hate and pushing you away from him — of course he never tells you this and brags very openly about being so good at picking gifts for you (and, thus, being the most awesome boyfriend in the history of all boyfriends ever)

he rarely ever actually says the words ‘i love you’ and will affectionately tease you whenever you say them to him, but he makes every effort to ensure that you don’t doubt his feelings for even a second despite that

when he’s too busy to accompany you out and about, he always makes sure that there’s at least one of his girls with you just to ensure your safety at all times — especially after one of his exorcists got killed, which made him particularly jumpy and overprotective (yes he knows that heaven is just about the safest place you can be, but he refuses to take any chances when it comes to you)

[prying-pandora666]

On Alucard and Maria

Are there actually fans advocating for Alucard to be written as Maria’s father figure in the new season of Nocturne? Like that would be a good thing and not infinitely creepier? I don’t think they’ve thought this through.

Alucard is the single most popular character in the franchise. He’s also probably the most shipped character. And yet he has only had one canon love interest in the decades since he’s existed. It’s Maria. And you’re telling me that you think that because he’s 300+ and she’s 17-18 when they started living together in the games, that it would be grooming. However, somehow him inserting himself into her life at age 16 when she’s just lost both her parents wouldn’t come off like grooming!?

Does this man look like he should be picking up random children!? He’s literally terrified of his own cursed blood. Maybe LISTEN TO HIM.

I’m convinced fandoms have forgotten what that word means. Grooming has specific features. It doesn’t just mean “older guy and younger girl.” A relationship with an age gap or an uneven power dynamic can be exploitative or abusive without being a case of grooming. Grooming specifically refers to the process of forming a relationship with a child with the intention of leveraging that relationship and trust to train and prepare (aka brainwash) your victim for the harmful activities the groomer wants to normalize. The relationship Alucard and Maria have in the games is in no way grooming. You know what would be grooming though?

Coming into a 16 year old’s life when she’s vulnerable, traumatized, and recently orphaned only to insinuate yourself as a new father figure. This is so highly inappropriate and a huge red flag. Consider what you’re actually asking for here. These characters do not exist in a a vacuum. They have a long history together as each other’s only canon love interests. You cannot fully extract them from the games, art, interviews, audio dramas, animations, and more where they’re depicted as a couple. There are decades of this precedent and you are asking Netflix to knowingly take the characters with an established romantic dynamic that the audience is already primed to see as romantic and instead portray their meeting as him trying to be her new daddy?

“Oh look! Alucard and his… daughter? Yikes.” This is an official advertisement btw.

THAT is grooming! Think about the optics of this! It would be abysmal! No it would NOT fix the problem of their age gap to make him act like a groomer and get in good with her as a dad. You just cannot completely extract them from the legacy of their relationship in the source materials. It will be incredibly creepy and textbook grooming if you get your way.

Is this really what you want to associate with an “adoptive father Alucard”? Because the art we create doesn’t exist in a vacuum. All the old content—official and fanmade—is still going to exist.

What is so objectionable about the original dynamic anyway? It’s a pretty fun subversion of the tired and problematic vampire trope of “vampire man stalks teen girl and coerces her into being his”. Instead in their original relationship, Maria is the one who pursues Alucard! It’s the young woman who takes initiative and is given the agency to go after what she wants. She courts and woos him. That’s part of the fun!

Yes, Alucard is 300+. He’s also a fictional creature that doesn’t actually exist IRL and stays eternally young. There are no actual people who will ever have his problem of staying 20 forever so it’s rather silly to say he can’t date any humans because of course he will have an age gap with any of them.

The only real problem I have seen people bring up is Maria’s age, but from what I can tell, the show’s already fixed this. Check it out.

In The Games

Rondo of Blood: Maria is 12. She and Alucard do not meet. Richter is a brother-figure and not romantic.

There is then a 5 year time skip.

Symphony of the Night: Maria is 17. She and Alucard meet to save Richter. At the end, Alucard says his goodbyes and intends to return to a life of solitude. Maria goes after him because she has developed feelings for him and doesn’t want him to suffer a life alone.

Maria is given agency to pursue what she wants and prove herself even against Alucard’s resistance and hesitance to let another person into his life.

They spend a year together before we get the audio drama.

Nocturne of Remembrance: Maria continues to try to get close to Alucard. They end up saving each other’s lives and in the end he finally confesses his romantic feelings for her. She is an adult and perfectly able to make her own choices. She chose him. He admits he returns her feelings.

How fandom can look at a story about a young woman subverting the trope and chasing the vampire to get what she wants—basically an anti-Bella Swan—and still find a way to disempower her just so they can pearl clutch? I couldn’t tell you.

So now let’s look at what the show did.

In The Show

Nocturne S1: Maria is 16. She’s been aged up from 12, probably to give her a more active and believable role. But this also means she’s within a normal age to start feeling attraction and expressing her wants. Within her society, she’s even considered of marriageable age. However we are spared the discomfort of our modern values clashing with her contemporaneous ones because Maria in this season isn’t interested in romance. She’s interested in revolution, equality, justice. They’ve portrayed her with so much love and strength. There is no indication they’d betray her by writing her as the child victim of a male suitor. In fact she only meets Alucard in the final few seconds of the season and the two do not even speak a single word to one another.

Now let’s remember the games had a five year time skip. The show only needs two years to get Maria to the adult age of 18, but assuming the follow through with the timeline and go for the full five?

Maria will be 21.

21.

Fan concept for adult Maria. Credit:@esp-art

Are you telling me a 21 year old woman is not old or mature enough to make her own decisions? How is this not a total infantilization of women? Do you think a 21 year old badass vampire hunter needs protection from the ace depressed dhampir boy who just wants to sleep and has in no way tried to pursue her until after she expressed consistent and persistent interest in him?

It is not “grooming” to meet someone when they were younger and then meet them again years later as an adult. That’s a thing that happens! In real life! Adults can still make decisions for themselves! It is only grooming if Alucard behaved in a way that would manipulate teen Maria and put her under his control and authority before she can consent. There is no indication that Alucard in the show is going to do this. And yet the fandom is basically demanding it by saying he should make her “his baby girl”?

And what of Maria’s feelings in all this? She just lost her mother and was betrayed by her father shortly after discovering he even existed. She has lived her whole life without a father. She is in no desperate need of a new one. And if she does need a family member, she already has one! Richter is 19 and is her trusted adoptive brother. Why wouldn’t she go to him over a total stranger she just met and who is half vampire - literally a predator creature that feeds on humans!?

Yeah, hi, Richter Belmont still exists. He and Maria consider each other family. Why would you want her relying on a strange man she just met as a “father figure” rather than her trusted and loving brother?

Have none of you even considered how Maria would feel if Alucard even tried to fill the paternal role? He’d have to force it on her through manipulation and coercion. No way she would want to view him that way. Especially considering she is 16 and likely to be as attracted to the sparkly 20 year old looking sculpted marble beauty as anyone else!

Don’t mind the beautiful eternally young man who looks made of pure porcelain and light. No teen girl has ever been attracted to this, right? No way it could be exploitative and creepy for him to present himself as her new daddy, giving himself authority and influence over her as his child to mold as he wishes, right? Oh yeah, this is MUCH better than Maria pursuing him of her own volition once she becomes an adult, right guys?

We are truly in the stupidest dark timeline.

Frankly, I don’t care if Netflix has them get together or not. They would work just fine as friends too. I just sure as hell hope they’ll ignore the fans clamoring for a creepy daddy/daughter dynamic. Dressing it up as “concern” won’t hide that for some it’s a fetish, and for others they’re just useful idiots who haven’t thought it through.

I implore you to think it through.

[hismercytomyjustice]

!IWTV 2.07 Spoilers Below!

TW for racism, racial violence, and everything already in the episode.

These are mostly just my thoughts on Claudia and Louis and the role of age/gender/race in the trial.

The writers and actors and everyone went for the THROAT with this episode and I am HERE FOR IT.

First and foremost, this is a public lynching. Played out for an almost completely white audience. The CLOSE UPS on the mostly white audience as Claudia’s charges are read…

The farce of a trial. They didn't need to go to all this trouble to kill Claudia, Louis, and Madeline. They CHOSE to. They made it a SPECTACLE, as was often done during lynchings.

Louis referring to himself and Claudia as props instead of characters. Because the audience and the vampire "court" would have to see them as PEOPLE to consider them characters.

Lestat warping the narrative to make himself out to be the victim for a good chunk of the trial and immediately being believed and sympathized with because this poor white man has a sad.

The only defendant shown any sympathy or empathy during the trial being the sole white person, and a white woman no less. Madeleine is treated like a poor naive soul who could never have known what “horrible monsters” she was in league with. BUT SHE KNEW. She heard all about Lestat and why Claudia didn't want her to have his blood. She watched Claudia kill three people in front of her without breaking a sweat. To SAVE her.

Moreover, Madeleine is the only one they offer absolution to. Yes, she hasn’t committed any “vampire crimes,” but she’s once again given the benefit of the doubt as a white woman. She’s perceived as inherently innocent and worthy of salvation. The implication being she’s just one more person that’s been swept up in the schemes of these “villains”. While Claudia and Louis are treated as irredeemable and inherently evil. Lestat confessed to breaking the same laws they’re on trial for, but he also receives a white “get out of jail free” card.

The way Claudia, for all intents and purposes, a 14 year old Black CHILD is portrayed as a monster in addition to a “child seductress” of sorts. The implication being she bent two fully grown men to her will. WE know Claudia is technically an adult inside (and that's how she sees herself), but the projection of maturity on a non-white child to justify violence and victimization against said child is excellently and devastatingly done.

The further “justification” of Lestat’s actions because he has his maker’s/father’s temper. Yet another excuse often bandied about by abusers. Like they "can’t help themselves". Obviously the cycle of abuse is a very real thing, I don’t mean to diminish that. But seeing him actually take a moment to be like “oh, no wait, I chose to do those things, that was actually all me” was a nice touch. Doesn’t absolve him of ANYTHING he did, but at least he finally acknowledges the role he played.

Claudia, the “youngest” of the group being the only one who fights against the compulsion to defend herself. We’re told over and over again through the series she’s unstable, too emotional, etc because she was turned as a teenage girl. And yet she is the only person there with an OUNCE of maturity. AND SHE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE. 

She’s only that way because she became parentified while trying to save Louis from himself and from Lestat. Even now, knowing they’re all about to die in a horrific fashion, she can’t turn off the part of her that cares about Louis. That doesn’t want to see him reenter the cycle of abuse, even in his last moments. She was his protector then and now while Louis is trapped in his own head.

Louis should be the one protecting HER. She is his daughter/little sister. He is older than her. He's been a vampire longer than her. He’s the one who got her turned in the first place. Not to diminish everything he’s going through as an abuse victim among other things, but she desperately needed him and once again he couldn’t/wouldn't/didn't step up for her.

Claudia saying “Can I cry and say that I’m sorry too?” Directly calling out the weaponization of white tears. The audience is willing to sympathize with a grown white man but not with his CHILD victim. Once again a Black child (in the physical sense) being held to higher standards than a grown white man who “just couldn’t help himself.” The audience laughs at Claudia’s pain while simultaneously sympathizing with her abuser.

Despite Claudia taking Paris by storm as Baby Lulu, not a single fan of hers steps forward in her defense. Santiago even acknowledges there are fans of her show in the audience! Because she’s not their beloved Baby Lulu anymore. She’s no longer performing for the entertainment and comfort of a white audience. Because she isn’t a person to them. Great post here about how the Baby Lulu play is a minstrel performance too btw.

We’re told again and again throughout the show that Claudia was too young to be changed, too volatile and therefore doomed to go mad and perish. But she’s the sanest and strongest of the three on trial. She fights back against an entire coven trying to break her mind. She walks of her own volition even with her ruined Achilles tendons. If everything they claimed was true, we sure as hell aren’t seeing any indication of that now. Claudia has proven her mental fortitude time and time again despite misery after misery inflicted on her in her undead life.

But no one in the audience and none of the vampire “justices” will ever acknowledge this truth. Because she’s a child when it’s convenient to their narrative (playing Baby Lulu and her standing in the coven), but she’s suddenly an adult the instant she advocates for herself and is now fully accountable for her “crimes.” They refuse to admit the Claudia before them now is the one and only real Claudia.

Even at the very end, Claudia tries to protect Madeleine from the sun. She holds her. She shields her with her body. She does what NO ONE has ever done for her. What Louis SHOULD HAVE DONE FOR HER. We know the pain she suffers is agonizing. We’ve seen Louis and Madeleine’s go through it. Yet she stands there head high, holding her love, and singing the song she hated so much to the lynch mob. Because no one there is ever going to think of that song in its original context again. Instead, it’s her final act of defiance, her last chance to declare her autonomy and insist she will never be what they tried to make her.

The death scene is such a stark contrast to her first death when Louis is pleading with Lestat to save her. She was catatonic then, but here she is so devastatingly vibrant and ALIVE. And it makes it hurt so much more to see that taken from her along with her life.

Claudia is such an amazing character in this show. Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayles are such phenomenal actors. I am DEVASTATED we have reached the end of Claudia's story and this is her legacy, but at the same time I will NEVER forget this episode or their extremely nuanced performances. Do I hope they'll find a way to reincorporate Claudia into the story? Absolutely. I'd love to see more. But at the same time, if this is how she had to go, I'm glad they centered the narrative so strongly around her.

[emmyrosee]

hi emmy! congrats on the milestone!! (im sorry for being late 😔) u deserve so much more love <3!! i feel rlly proud for u, even tho i started following u not long ago :) i can feel u being sincere with everybody which is rlly cool! :D and i wanted to do 27 from your prompt list and 4 from the second list on hugs w/ tsukki :) i hope u have a great day and stay healthy and take care!! -anon :)

YOURE SO SWEET, THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS 🥺💖

Honestly I want this to be a place where anyone feels welcome to poke around, so to kinda hear that you get that vibe really does mean the most. ALSOO my first Tsukki piece!! Hope I didn’t do him dirty!!

27 “I swear, I’m not scared”

4 Hugs “Comforting”

—

“Are you sure-”

“Yup. I am perfectly fine with this circumstance.”

Despite your quivering words and tense shoulders, your eyes never leave the screen. Seems to be mistake, as instantly, the monster portrayed in the film hides just in the background, barely in sight. Kei rolls his eyes while yours absolutely refuse to leave the monster that lingers without being noticed by the protagonists.

Next to you, an equally scared but exponentially enthralled Yachi, on the floor are the other three third years who shout at the stupidity of the characters on screen.

Movie nights have always been a tradition, especially on Halloween; like hell you were going to disrupt the fun.

Not like you were scared or anything.

“If you’re scared, I can ask Tadashi to-”

“I swear, I’m not scared,” you hiss. Your body betrays you, as your finger nails dig at your cuticles, anxiously scanning for the monster the movie finally has panned away from.

“But what if it’s real?” Hinata says, popping some gummy bears in his mouth. 

“What if what’s real?” Kageyama asks back.

“Like, what if you were killed in any rage? Do you think you would come back as one of those?” Hinata’s finger nudges at the screen, referring to the horrors as if they’re not fake.

“You keep talking and I’m gonna kill you in a fit of rage,” Kageyama snaps, and a few feet away, Tadashi snickers.

“If I come back as one of those demons, I’m gonna haunt you so bad!”

Next to him, Kei hears you whimper, and he lets out a snarl at the idea of the others making you afraid.

“That’s enough,” Kei finally snaps. “Shut the hell up, or we’re leaving.”

“What’s the matter?” Hinata teases. “You scaaaared we’re gonna haunt you?”

You look away, embarrassed. If looks could kill, Hinata would be buried by Kei’s.

“You already haunt my everyday life, that’s horrific enough.”

Finally, a quiet falls back over the group, engrossed in the rising tension. You look like you’re completely settled in rigor mortis, and you look so scared he thinks you could puke straight onto Yamaguchi’s rug.

With a deep inhale through his nose, sucking up his pride, Kei wraps an arm around you, pulling you closer to his side. You make a small, confused noise at the sudden affection, and he noses at your hairline.

“Kei? What’re you-”

“I’m scared,” he says simply, though there’s a total calm in his voice. He conceals you slightly in his frame, the flashing on screen dimmed in his hoodie fabric. “Hate this shit, but I know you want to finish it, so I’m just gonna... hold you.”

An overly wordy, but extremely soothing “I know your stubborn ass doesn’t want to leave, so I’ll keep your cover.”

You blink, surprised at the gentleness in his voice, but you decide to curl against him adoringly, melting in the comforting embrace, the friends scattered around you two being none the wiser to the chatter between you both.

You press an soft kiss to his jawline, feeling immensely better in the bulk of his arms. Your eyes gently flutter close and you take selfish inhales of his scent, mumbling a soft “thank you,” into the meat of his bicep. He nods and settles back down for his own physical comfort, the whole group gasping out as another scare plagues the air surrounding you both.

The scare fades, and you feel your breathing even out as you rest against your boyfriend, mind at ease and-

“Ohhhhh, I get it! Tsukishima wasn’t scared, but-”

There’s a sudden thump and a pained whine from Hinata, quickly then followed by “don’t kick me, Suckishima!” Your laughter gets muffled in the hoodie, mingled only with the other laughter from the other boy, Yachi quickly asking if the middle blocker was okay.

Definitely a tradition.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

sorry before I go to bed I’m thinking bout the different ways Evangelion portrays csa.

asuka's (metaphorical) rape is done by a stranger. someone she doesn’t know. a literal monster. as someone who’s always prided herself on being able to fight, being able to always win, this shatters asuka, who feels such a thing makes her weak. she responds to her trauma by regressing, playing video games at her friends house and speaking to her like a young child, before shutting down entirely to the point of attempted suicide. she’s later sexually abused by shinji, taking his own trauma out on her, and while we don’t see as much of how that effects her, we see the tragedy of the cycles of abuse play out.

shinji's sexual abuse is done by a friend. he doesn’t realise it’s wrong, and misato thinks she’s helping, because he’s a boy and boys like that right? but misato not realising the harm of her actions do not make her any less harmful. there’s a lot of complicated feelings and emotions there, and it very much deals heavily with the complexities of abuse- not all abusers realise what they’re doing. not all abusers even have sexual intent (misato absolutely doesn’t see shinji in a romantic light at all, she's not attracted to him). not all victims hate their abusers, and not all victims fully realise how inappropriate their abusers actions are. yet, the abuse still has impacts- as seen with shinji's complete lack of sexual boundaries, to the point of assaulting asuka for a desperate sense of control. he recognises that it’s awful- it’s something familiar to him to a degree- but as a severely traumatised child, he lashes out and inflicts his own pain on others. which is not acceptable, obviously, but it’s tragic, and shows how abuse makes people worse.

and as for rei, she's abused by her own father. the signs are there, but they don't entirely click at first, and neither do they click to the adults who should be looking out for her. the sexual abuse she faces is overlooked even when it’s right under everyone’s noses. and when someone does put the dots together, they blame her for it. rei's abuse, like a lot of familial abuse, is either ignored or something she’s considered at fault for, despite being sheltered and groomed all her life, and, y’know, fourteen. rei's arc also focuses heavily on her conflicted feelings about her abuser, but in a different way to shinji. she, at first, idolises gendo. she's been groomed her whole life, and is incredibly isolated. what happens is normal to her, she doesn’t see it as wrong because she’s never been told it’s wrong. the idea of not having faith in gendo is alien to her. but as time goes on, she realises what happens isn’t special, it isn’t okay. by the time she dies and another version of her takes her place (the rei's share a soul, so they’re the same person even if rei iii can’t remember everything) she’s quietly furious at the idea of being a doll, and realises she can be more. when her abuser touches her, she literally tears off his hand. and she attains agency! that’s the final part of her storyline. she has agency, for the first time in her life. and she might have chose to listen to shinji on what to do, but she chose for the first time, it’s a massive step and honestly it really struck me as a beautiful ending to her character arc.

idk man. i just like how this mecha anime interrogates a sensitive subject from multiple angles and has genuinely suprisingly good depictions of even abuse that’s not recognised as abuse by most still. it’s nice! it’s refreshing. honestly, they committed to exploring abuse and never trying to apologise for it, and it’s fucking great. i'm personally not a csa victim, but i did go through sexual trauma at around the same ages of these characters, and i found myself relating a lot to their arcs around this due to that even if our experiences are pretty different. i felt aspects of how i dealt with things, especially in rei and shinji but to a degree asuka as well, and it made me feel more confident in myself. if shinji ikari can choose to live, so can I :)

[caustinen]

hollywood au - how does Gale feel about Bucky doing intimate scenes in movies? is there any project that Bucky rejects because Gale doesn’t want him to do it?

another lovely question!! everytime i think i don’t have anything more to offer to this au these kinds of questions appear and i find myself writing another essay 😂

hollywood au! sexy scenes in bucky’s movies 🫨

gale has seen approximately million sex scenes in his life (we have to remember that before he was a john simp he was already a film bro) so he’s used to seeing them with or without john and he doesn’t really care most times, even if they’re not his favorites he can rationalize it well.

however. HOWEVER. he and john have been together for a long time, and it’s impossible to completely separate the images he sees on screen from memories of sensation — the rational part of your brain can only do so much. and because john happens to be a very good actor and is often cast in heart throb roles, he’s also a pro at doing a sex scenes, and the way he portrays want and enjoyment can sometimes be very close to the real thing, leaving gale hot and bothered in the theatre. he might even squeeze bucky’s hand in his by accident or, also completely accidentally of course, drop his hand to the thigh closest to him in the dark audience.

but really, sex scenes don’t make him jealous, because they are so strictly choreographed and staged. kissing scenes, on the other hand…

it’s the same thing with kissing as with sex, he’s a grown man who’s seen hundreds of films, he knows it’s acting and doesn’t mean anything. he knows bucky is crazy about him. but maybe that’s exactly why he lets that feeling sometimes grow in his chest when he watches his boyfriend kissing someone else; jealousy is a nasty feeling, but there’s also something exciting about it when it can be explored in this safe environment, it’s almost more like a roleplay to let himself feel jealous every once in a while.

(mostly he just feels melancholy sometimes when bucky’s been away for a long time filming far away and he tells him they’re doing the intimate scenes that day, then he feels jealous he can’t be there to do that stuff for real with bucky but it’s directed at the universe more than the actor playing against him)

in conclusion, maybe sometimes gale gets a bit more worked up after they’ve seen a film where bucky is intimate with someone else. maybe his fingers wander a bit more, maybe he’s draped a bit closer as they chat with others after the screening; maybe he’s staring into his boyfriend’s eyes everytime he puts something in his mouth and keeps saying innuendos or loaded inside jokes until john get’s the message and they can go home so gale can have a replay of those sounds and expressions of pleasure, just for him

i think i hc’s somewhere before he’d also be easily inspired by some of bucky’s roles/costumes/films, i might need to revisit an idea about gale getting some nsfw propositions that include john in a pilot uniform 🤭

as for what kind of films he’d ask john to reject… this is super interesting because my initial idea would’ve been nothing, like gale’s personality and love for art would overcome any personal preference. but that also means that he has high standards for films he likes and since bucky trusts his judgment over anything and they discuss the scripts together, i’d think gale’s personal preferences would sometimes shine through a bit. i don’t think he’d tell bucky not to audition for a role just because it includes a lot of intimate/sex scenes, but like i mentioned before i hc this gale loving text over everything so he’d be looking for the reason for all of the intimacy — are the sex scenes there just to sell to certain audiences or aesthetically show beautiful people (which is also fine and has a time and place) or does it move the plot or characters along — how does it function with the text overall? he’s not a prude and he’s never gonna say ”oh don’t do that” for a shallow reason but these would be the things he’d probably notice in a script 🤔

maybe the only time he (and bucky for that matter) was really disturbed by a script was when it was clear it was basically their story reimagined with LOTS of unnecessary sex scenes in it, like super inappropriate project overall and the development team had the nerve to ask real john to star with some random person portraying Gale; he didn’t have to tell john not to do that film that time 😅

hope these were okay!! have a lovely day 💘

(more of hollywood au)

[cannibalgenders]

I have a lot of thoughts about the way mental illness is treated by the Yellowjackets writers and the fandom, particularly when it comes to the vilification and/or deification of Lottie Matthews but I’m not schizophrenic and it’s not really my place to say what’s what when it comes to that but I DO want to talk about the other character who everyone seems to agree displayed mental illness before the events of the crash and that’s Misty Quigley

The first time we see Misty she’s watching a rat drown with something close to apathy, which is to me clear visual language of what they’re setting Misty up to be. See, there’s this disproved (but still commonly used within entertainment media) psychological theory called the Macdonald Triad, or sometimes the “triad of sociopathy”. It essentially claims that three behaviors displayed by children and teens can predict if they will develop ASPD in adulthood, or become violent criminals. The behaviors are bedwetting, firesetting, and cruelty to animals. The fact that we see Misty behaving cruelly towards animals in her FIRST scene is a clear statement of intention in regards to where her character is going

Now, all of the behaviors in the Macdonald triad are actually more closely linked with prolonged childhood abuse or neglect, which leads to the DEVELOPMENT of personality disorders in some cases, lighting fires or whatever doesn’t actually make you a “sociopath”.

And…Misty isn’t really, either. At least not at first. I personally could very easily see Misty as having ASPD (or conduct disorder, since she’s a minor), but in season 1 the writers seem like they’re putting a lot of effort into associating Misty with this sort of false Hollywood perception of a “sociopath” rather than people with an actual Cluster B personality disorder. And like, Misty displays an obvious lack of empathy and concern for others’ autonomy from the very beginning, but I really and truly wasn’t sold on Misty as a sympathetic portrayal or as representation until closer to the end of Season 2

And really is was Samantha Hanratty that sold me. Because there’s a BIG discrepancy in the way Samantha and the way Christina portrays Misty. 40 year old Misty is an adult set in her ways, she’s clinging to the people who made her feel useful 25 years ago but her old eagerness, her ability to be genuinely affected or hurt has been diminished a LOT. She’s got incredibly muted emotions, masks near constantly, and is willing to do just about anything to maintain her control over wildly out of hand situations.

Whereas Samantha’s young Misty is still in a place where she’s trying to reach out- something’s “wrong” with her, sure, but she genuinely believes that others still have the ability to appreciate her for her authentic self, and much of her manipulative behavior is in search of that validation. Yeah, she doesn’t know how to go about yeah, yeah she’s fucked up, but she’s sharing bits of herself with the expectation that this will get her what she wants, and she’s repeatedly being smacked down.

And then we see the loss of Crystal. The final loss that sort of cements for her that genuine display of emotion and authenticity is doomed to destroy her and everything she cares about. So she stops caring. She detaches. And that really hit me as the most accurate portrayal I’m going to get of what the inside of my head feels like. Her brain keeps her from feeling much in adulthood as protection, but it’s so fucking boring that she’s going through the motions of who she was before all that, playacting at the bubbly musical theater loving dork she could have been, just to try and get some of that excitement back.

And now I’m wondering, with clinging to those old connections having bitten her in the ass so thoroughly, is Misty going to drop the mask completely? Give up on every being anything to anyone? Go back to isolation and manipulation and violence? Or is there hope for her, like Natalie, to make a different choice this time?

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Lois Einhorn/Ray Finkle

(WARNING! This analysis contains LETHAL LEVELS OF TRANSPHOBIA! Literally what the FUCK!)

I have wanted to review Ace Ventura for a long, long time. I mean, this was part of Jim Carrey’s break into the big time alongside Dumb & Dumber and The Mask, two films I wouldn’t hesitate to call comedy classics. But then there’s Ace Ventura, a film many would say sits alongside those… and to a degree, it does. The titular character may be one of the funniest and most awesome film protagonists ever made, and for the most part it is a genuinely funny comedic mystery.

But then comes the twist.

The villain of the film is revealed to be Lois Einhorn, a cop that Ace had been working with. But that’s not actually the real twist. No, the real twist is that Einhorn is disgraced football player Ray Finkle… and thus, a man. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the problem here.

Finkle/Einhorn has long been considered one of the most transphobic characters in 90s media, and it is genuinely hard to disagree. But is there anything of value to them? Is this character really as bad as people say? Well, I’m going to tell you how I feel, though two things need to be kept in mind. First, I’m a cis guy. I am going to be upfront and say I agree this character is horribly problematic, but I definitely recommend seeking out what actual trans people have to say about Finkle as well (this video’s a good place to start). Second, I’m going to be using “They/Them” pronouns for Finkle. I’m doing this mainly because the movie is wildly unclear about how they view their own gender identity, and it’s actually unclear if they’re actually trans or just so insane they’ve gone to the biggest extremes to disguise themselves as a woman for their vengeance since, you know, the movie doesn’t particularly care about their gender identity beyond it being a vehicle for mockery.

Now, let’s go ahead and open this big ol’ can of worms...

Motivation/Goals: Finkle’s motivation is where they really shine, because it’s genuinely insane and amazing. They ended up being shunned by society and disgraced after a screw up that cost the Miami Dolphins the Super Bowl, and went completely insane from the derision. This led to them concocting an absurdly complicated plan that involved the kidnapping of the team’s mascot, rising through the ranks of the police department, and assuming the name of a dead hiker, all to kidnap and kill their former teammate Dan Marino for his role in their fumble. It’s so brilliantly batshit!

Oh, and they decide to unndergo a sex change as part of this scheme. It’s done as tastefully as you can imagine a 90s comedy would do.

Performance: Blade Runner’s Sean Young plays Finkle-as-Einhorn (and even portrays Finkle in a photograph back when they were a man). Whatever problems this character has, I don’t think it’s completely fair to blame them on Young; she does a relatively good job playing a comedic femme fatale villain when it comes right down to it. If the writing were better, this could easily be a career highlight for her. Alas, that’s not the world we live in.

Final Fate: They get arrested. I guess it’s better than them getting killed? They were in a room full of cops, it was the early 90s, and they are presenting as a woman while being assigned male at birth. It is genuinely a miracle that the worst thing that happened to them is that they were sexually harassed by Jim Carrey.

Evilness: This is the tricky one. On the one hand, Finkle has quite a list of genuine crimes under their belt: Murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, animal abuse… They might also be responsible for the death of the original Lois Einhorn, but it’s extremely ambiguous and I’m not going to hold it against them. On the other hand, Finkle’s downfall and subsequent shunning by their own hometown to the point their life was destroyed and they were driven insane is so over-the-top in how cruel it is that it’s kind of hard not to feel a little bit of sympathy for them. Like hell, I think I’d go batshit insane too ifI got treated like that for a mistake that was out of my hands! The narrative is trying to say they should score a 4 or even 5, but I think they’re more around a 3, a tragic villain who was driven to madness. It’s certainly a high three because it’s hard to excuse some of their worse actions, but I’m feeling a little more lenient towards them than the movie is.

Worst Scene: The big gender reveal at the end, of course.

Let’s ignore that dolphins have been observed having gay sex before. Let’s also ignore there is a non-zero chance that someone on the police force isn’t totally straight; there was a cop in the Village People for a reason, after all. Setting all that aside, this just isn’t fucking funny. It’s just a tasteless, bottom-of-the-barrel gag cranked up to eleven. I know the 90s weren’t the most enlightened years, but this is still excessive, especially since this is the gag the entire movie’s central mystery builds up to.

Final Thoughts & Score: There is so much to unpack here. Like, unbelievable amounts. This is a villain in a fucking detective comedy film, this really shouldn’t have to be so goddamn hard to talk about!

This character is just so stuffed full of offensive stereotypes that there is genuinely no charitable read for them. Looking at what the film is laying out for you, we have a man who has gone to insane lengths to disguise themselves as a woman for their revenge scheme, the sort of lengths that are usually reserved for people who are actually trans. So this isn’t even straightforward transphobia, it’s invoking the “trap” stereotype. For those of you blessed with ignorance, the “trap” is a nasty stereotype of trans woman that essentially believes they are a man disguised as a woman looking to rape unsuspecting men. It’s a pretty vile term that was and still is pretty popular among the coomer crowd, so yeah, not a good look when your character is what 4channers were calling Bridget Guilty Gear for years.

But hey, maybe the transphobia is just accidental! Even the director has said the intended joke with stuff like Ace barfing after discovering the truth is meant to be a dig at how fragile his masculinity really is if he falls to pieces over something like kissing a man! So instead of transphobia, the joke is… homophobia! Yay? This excuse doesn’t even hold water when the entire police force and the fucking dolphin barf at the big reveal too.

All of this is bad enough, but here’s the kicker: Aside from that massive, glaring flaw, Finkle is actually a genuinely good villain for a story like this. Their plan is insane and convoluted, perfectly fitting into a comedic narrative, but they’re also a genuinely threatening villain when they need to be. But this just makes it all the worse, because they took this good idea, wrapped it up in the sort of shit Joanne Rowling writes for her crappy detective novels, and then made it the punchline the whole movie builds up to.

If it weren’t for the exaggerated 90s bigotry the character is steeped in, I think they’d be a really solid bad guy who would likely deserve a score at least as high as Buffalo Bill got. But the existence of the novel that elaborates on Bill’s whole deal, the (admittedly minor) efforts of the movie to deny Bill is trans and is merely insane and delusional, and the fact he is played entirely seriously and is not the butt of jokes make him far more defensible than Finkle is.

I don’t think there’s ever been a twist villain that so thoroughly decimates the quality of the film they’re in. Bellwether didn’t ruin Zootopia, Hans didn’t ruin Frozen, and Roy Burns didn’t ruin Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. But Finkle? They fucking tank Ace Ventura, and it didn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of ways to have a character pretend to be a woman and have it be tasteful and funny; Bugs Bunny is a queer icon for a reason, and movies like Some Like It Hot and Mrs. Doubtfire, while obviously not perfect, manage to be a lot more tasteful in their jokes. But here, they just aim right for the bottom of the barrel.

With how times have changed, I think it’s genuinely easy to read them as a sympathetic character, provided you can look past the murder and homicidal revenge of course (something easy to do when you remember what caused them to snap). When the movie is doing all it can to demonize and humiliate them for not conforming to gender norms as opposed to ridiculing them for the sheer absurd lengths they’re going to for revenge or the fact they literally fucking killed someone, it’s hard not to take their side. The narrative is already against them for the stupidest reasons, so why dogpile them? You go, girl! You can have a little murder and kidnapping, as a treat.

I’ve gotta give them a 0.5/10. And that .5 is pretty much only because aside from the horrible twist, they’re honestly not a bad villain and there’s actually a lot of great foreshadowing that they’re behind the dolphin kidnapping. It really is just the gender reveal thing that not only completely ruins the character, but torpedoes the movie too. Ace Ventura is probably one of the best characters ever, and one of Carrey’s best performances alongside Truman and Robotnik, but he’s stuck debuting in a film where the big joke is “queers are fucking freaks lmao.” What a sick joke.

[honkceasar]

Dude I forgot just how insane episode 86 of riptide makes me man.

Okay first of all the captain drake moments in this episode are so fucking funny dude, i love the jazz pirates they’re so silly.

Second of all I need infinitely more people to talk about Jay and Gills friendship because they are so sweet and care about each other so so much dude. The way that, despite not knowing what to say to him, Jay manages to get Gillion to let his guard down emotionally for one of the first times like,,,,ever in the campaign. He trusts her and knows she’s sensible so when she begs him to take care of himself, he has to consider it. Maybe not because he understands why he shouldn’t let someone murder him repeatedly, but because it’s Jay who told him and shes always right. And then they have that big hug that neither of them want to let go from and Gill actually lets himself cry for a moment before he gets too embarrassed. They are the friends ever dude I’m so normal about it

And then the incredibly silly moment of Chip trying to teach Gillion sarcasm and him actually playing along with it turning to disaster cause of the Edyn memory. This moment was so striking to me because despite it obviously being a parallel to ep 15, the character growth REALLY shined through and kept it from feeling like a rehash of the same argument. Yes Gillion is mad because the truth was kept from him, but this time he kind of understands why, and I think that’s almost worse to him. That with the combination of his fear for Edyn’s safety and it suddenly feels like an entirely different emotion being portrayed. He’s angry, yes, but he’s far more hurt and afraid than just mad.

Then there’s Chip’s growth. Even the nature of his lie shows growth in a weird way. He didn’t keep the truth from Gill for the sake of his own entertainment, he did it because on top of directly being told not to tell him, his friend was already hurting so much and he wasn’t sure that he could take more. He didn’t want Gillion to completely fall apart and possibly get himself or others hurt. And then he stays up all night and builds that shitty arena. He’s tired and he’s pissed at himself and he doesn’t want to fight his friend, but he builds this arena because the last time it obviously meant something to Gillion. He’s not quite sure why a duel is what led to being forgiven the last time but he knows that’s just how Gill is, so he’s willing to let it happen if it means he doesn’t lose his trust and friendship.

Gill admitting that he understood why Chip, Edyn, and Jay didn’t tell him. Chip admitting he was wrong and meaning it. Chip telling that story from Loffinlot and saying that the impulsivity that often gets Gill in trouble is also what made Chip feel well-liked in others eyes for the first time ever. That he felt like a hero. And then they fight, not out of anger, just cause Gillion really likes fighting and Chip will do anything to make him happy at this point. And they have a good time!! They laugh, tease each other, (and do drugs together???) Gillion tries to use sarcasm, and Chip uses his magic for the first time, and then they both are instantly taken out by Jay.

It’s all just so good I love it so so much I could talk about this episode forever and ever man.

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Comparing Killers

I sent an ask to my buddy @insane4fandoms a few days ago, and in their reply, they mentioned potentially doing a character analysis for both MadPat and my very own fanmade cannibal EgoPat Caliban in the future.

(This stemmed from one of their latest drawings. Again, thanks so much for remembering my scrunglies, friendo ❤️)

SO, being the way I am, I took some random inspiration and now I'm going through with that exact analysis myself! Just following my instincts as a writer and all that stuff.

___

MadPat:

Now, just to get this out of the way because I have a sneaking suspicion that someone’s gonna read this and automatically assume I’m being stuck-up: I really like Mad as a character. Matt has done an amazing job portraying him. . .though, Matt just has a knack for unhinged characters in general, lol.

And thanks to Matt's acting skills, Mad is an enjoyable villain. He’s cluster of chaotic problems shaped like a man in his thirties, and we all love him for it. (Honestly, I kinda see Mad’s behavior as similar to that of The Actor from all of Mark’s projects. Comedically evil with a tendency to throw tantrums when things don’t go his way.)

The FNAF Musicals have made many slight tweaks to the lore of the games to not completely plagiarize the story. So, of course, Mad is a slightly-tweaked version of William Afton: it’s made very clear that his crimes include murdering kids. On top of that, he has no problem playing long-cons with pizzeria employees before eventually killing them, too.

We’ve seen plenty of times that Mad is pretty much never afraid to get violent. Oh sure, he tries to put a mask on when he needs to, but it’s easy to see all his urges beneath that mask. (And again, much like Actor!Mark, Mad ain’t too shy about being callous and hostile to almost everyone around him.) He’s very quick to anger. To make things worse, he’s also quick to desperation.

While Mad is too smart for everyone else’s good, he’s still pretty damn impulsive/irresponsible. His crimes were all concentrated on the pizzeria; it didn’t take very long at all for the disappearances to pile up and gain unwanted attention. Now, a bunch of missing-person-cases are one thing, but leaving evidence is quite another.

Hell, in the beginning scene of Web of Lies, the wacko-in-a-bearsuit himself literally said, “Every INCH of this place is INCRIMINATING! Ten minutes of poking around this place and they’ll discover what I did. . !”

If Mad were to hear of Caliban's work, he'd probably be impressed at first and automatically assume that Caliban is just like him, just with more people-eating. However, if Mad were to actually meet Caliban and get a better read on his personality, Mad would likely end up insulting him one way or another. He'd see Caliban's professionalism as tedious.

___

Caliban Crawford:

Though I've made it pretty obvious that he's my special boi, Caliban is an objectively bad person. He may be insane, but he’s not delusional enough to deny that. Whenever his and/or Murdock's targets happen to be alive when they’re dragged to his den, he can be very, VERY sadistic throughout the butchering process. (Especially if the target has done something to personally affect him, Azalea, or any of his other peers.)

Sure, he doesn’t complain about working with dead bodies, but having a live meal is quite a special occasion. In such cases, he enjoys watching the unfortunate soul in question squirm and listening to them scream/beg. Taunting, dragging things out, making morbid puns all over the place, the works.

Despite all this, I’ve specifically crafted Caliban to be an extremely morally-gray character. (To be honest, the only fanmade ego of mine who’s full-on evil is LeviathanPat.) He’s still able to be logical/rational when he needs to. He takes pride in his self-control; yes, he has cravings for human flesh, but he knows he can’t afford to just attack any person he sees whenever he gets hungry. He knows he has to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL in order to keep his business away from the authorities. So, he only eats those he and his peers (Murdock, Azalea, etc.) are hired/paid to bump off.

On top of that, Caliban still has some humanity left. While he’s obviously nowhere close to a perfect angel, he’s still able to form genuine relationships and treat those in his circle with kindness/respect. Get on his good side, and you'll have quite a strong ally.

Though his morals are limited, one of the biggest differences between him and Mad is the fact that Caliban would never, NEVER stoop so low as to harm a child. In fact, he tends to avoid children altogether due to his own childhood trauma. (Totally not me projecting because I grew up in a dysfunctional family with verbal/emotional/psychological abuse.)

Getting back to the juicy stuff: Caliban is smart and efficient with his work. He prides himself on not leaving any evidence behind. (Yes, he still makes occasional mistakes, but even then, the aforementioned evidence still comes in very tiny amounts.) That's why he and Murdock became friends and started working together in the first place: since Caliban divides up which parts can be cooked/eaten and which parts can be sold on the Black Market, it really is easy for targets to just seemingly vanish into thin air.

Though my stories involving Caliban probably show him acting calm (despite his pun-addiction, lol), please, PLEASE don't be fooled. He's got just as much unhinged energy as Mad. He just happens to hide it a bit more often. But he definitely has his chaotic moments; half of the time it's out of unhinged joy, and the other half of the time it's because an enemy pissed him off enough to get their skin privileges revoked. (Basically, it's not that much of a stretch to see Caliban as a combination of The Hermit and Mack.)

Now, if you've seen @insane4fandoms artwork of him, then it's pretty clear that some inspiration was taken from Hannibal Lecter. And while I definitely appreciate references like that. . .well, that inspiration is mainly just for Caliban's appearance. I've said before that Caliban is nowhere near as arrogant as Hannibal. Even so, if Caliban were to see/hear about all of Mad's shenanigans, he'd write Mad off as being sloppy and unimpressive. If he were to actually meet Mad, his opinion would just get worse; he'd see Mad as a fair bit annoying and bratty.

___

@sammys-magical-au @b-is-in-the-closet @im-a-weird0 @themarpsimp @lexusinsannus @crazy-obsessed-enby @rozeliyawashereyall @gaymingintrovert @lampsforsocks @forestcouncil @x-hotrose-x @v1rus-seal

[death-himself]

ok episode 6 thoughts

decent episode, doesn't top episodes 4 or 5 for me but it was good

kronos being portrayed by his headmaster is an interesting choice

the iris message is so much blurrier than I always imagined i'm crying

144p iris message you would think it would be clearer but nope that's so funny to me

with how involved rick is with the show that means that's always what he imagined iris messaging looking like I can't iris messaging is ruined for me

we didn’t get percy talking to the zebra T-T it’s fine tho i forgot that even happened in the book until i checked after watching

their whole conversation while watching the animals escape i love them

their chemistry is perfect in this episode

THE LOTUS CASINO HAS A ROLLER COASTER WHAT

i get people wanted poker face, but the dua lipa song is perfect, it’s like a slightly more modern version

i don’t know fashion throughout the centuries so i can’t really say anything about the costume designs, but i kinda wish there were more obviously out of place outfits in the lotus

is augustus mentioned at all in the books? i don’t remember a satyr named augustus so i guess he was made just for the tv series?

luring grover in with pan is a cool change

grover slowly losing his memory was played pretty well

i keep getting impressed by how good these kids are as actors

i honestly don’t know why people hate on lin manuel miranda so much, i think he made for a pretty good hermes this episode

but also the way they’re portraying hermes feels a little bit off?? i don’t really know how but something didn’t feel right about his character

i do feel like he’s the most “human” out of the gods introduced so far, and i think that came through pretty well

“to be so close to someone you love, knowing neither of you has any choice but to keep hurting each other?” that line is just-

as someone with a really complicated relationship with my dad that line just hurt goddamn

the flashback percy had??? i feel like that line doesn’t 100% relate to percy and sally’s relationship, but i see how that’d be how percy would feel

unless i’m dumb and that was referencing his relationship with poseidon lol

ok the end of their talk with hermes i wanna talk about that a bit

parenting sometimes being watching your kid struggle and being powerless to stop it: completely true

“we’re all just doing the best we can” now that’s some godly bullshit

the difference between that first quote and gods being parents is that they’re literally capable of doing anything

they could be more present in their kids lives, they just CHOOSE not to, that’s how it works in the books

sure it’s coming from a place where he thinks interacting will only make things worse but???

i can’t articulate my thoughts, i liked this scene tho, my thoughts on hermes are mixed as they should be

ANNABETH STEALING HERMES’S KEYS

“i’m multi-talented” I LOVE HER

percy forgetting grover felt so unsettling to me

hermes driving a taxi so real

percy trying to drive, i’m not gonna lie, that scene went on a little too long for me, but i was laughing the whole time so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ok percy getting 4 pearls instead of 3??? idk why but that change pissed me off

i paused to get out the book, and i guess it makes more sense then hades just deciding to return her

but at the same time there’s the line in the prophecy, he’s supposed to leave her in the underworld for that part of the prophecy

are they just going to end up accidentally breaking one of the pearls or trading it or something? that’s the only way i can see that still working out

i feel like these episode reviews always turn out sounding more negative than positive, but i swear i’m enjoying the hell out of this series, i just have trouble articulating joy lol

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi pt. 22

I am very undecided if I should call what’s about to unfold here a retcon. Apologies for another massive screenshot dump.

See, the reason I’m hesitant about calling this a retcon is because it’s portraying these events from the view of this timeline’s Keiichi being able to think about things rationally. This Keiichi is able to remember these events from Onikakushi and think about them from the rational angle of Mion and Rena were probably on the up and up, but that doesn’t really hold water with the way it was portrayed in Onikakushi. After all Keiichi did find a needle in the ohagi, Mion did have a syringe (probably H173) that she was going to inject Keiichi with. Hell even with the part where Mion is crying because of Keiichi accusing her of murder she did very swiftly start to rant about how she should have killed Ooishi long before he started Keiichi on his path of paranoia.

Clearly this span of screenshots and exposition is meant to try to mesh Onikakushi more cleanly with the larger plot that has come about as of Tsumihoroboshi. So it has to try to explain away Keiichi’s paranoia with his onset of Hinamizawa Syndrome, but really I think you could just as easily explain it as Keiichi remembering events from other timelines that did happen the way they did. I don’t doubt that Keiichi had Hinamizawa Syndrome back when everything went to hell in Onikakushi, but this sudden turn of trying to explain that Keiichi doubting his friends and becoming excessively paranoid just rubs me the wrong way.

Except he didn’t! Up until this very moment he had no recollection of any of this happening! Even at the time when he did homerun derby his way through Rena and Mion’s skulls he very definitely didn’t act like they deserved it! He never outright expressed regret at the deed of murdering them, but he never explicitly blamed them for their deaths either. Keiichi acted like they were used by the grander conspiracy to get at him.

Keiichi’s freakout worsens as he is overcome with guilt over having killed Rena and Mion five chapters ago. This makes Satoko and Mion thoroughly confused because as far as they’re aware Keiichi might as well be having this meltdown over a bad dream. Rika however approaches Keiichi to confirm that Keiichi is aware of his sin of having killed Mion and Rena five chapters and four years ago. Keiichi confirms that he is acutely aware, and that he didn’t even realize it when he clawed out his own throat at the end of Onikakushi and only just realized it now during the later half of Tsumihoroboshi. It never really goes into detail about her rebirth process, only that Rika prefers to have some time to come to grips with what happened “recently” but I can’t help but wonder if this is similar to how it works for her. But really I suppose that’s more a question for Minagoroshi than anything.

This… is a very ironic screenshot given what happens later on in Minagoroshi.

Rika then goes on to make Keiichi remember what it was like when he gave in to paranoia and eventually killing Rena and Mion. She rationalizes that because he went through this he could save Rena. Probably.

Now, I don’t know about Ryukish07’s writing process, and I don’t know if Wikipedia should be believed about the release dates between chapters. But given the short amount of time between Tsumihoroboshi and Minagoroshi I can’t help but assume that the pair of these were probably written together for the most part. Four months doesn’t seem like nearly enough time to have completely forgotten the characterization for who is probably your most important character in the franchise. But it is just wild to me how Rika seems to do a complete 180 in terms of characterization from Tsumihoroboshi to Minagoroshi. I guess maybe you could handwave it away as she doesn’t remember this particular conversation due to dying shortly after this chapter ends? Even though that doesn’t make a bit of sense considering she mentions things that happened right at the end of the chapter in the next one.

Anyway, thus now burdened with the memory of killing Mion and Rena in a past life Keiichi apologizes to Mion for it, and vows to be there to protect her in the future if she needs protection. A flustered Mion accepts this.

[real-total-drama-takes]

https://www.tumblr.com/real-total-drama-takes/757956150757064704/okay-i-think-rather-than-replying-individually-to?source=share

“yes I would ship them if the genders were reversed.”

Hey! This is actually insane!

Being trans has nothing to do with the topic (coming from someone who is not cis) because the point is how Cody, a male victim, is being treated along with how this fandom treats Sierra a lot less harshly because she is a relatable girl to a majority of the audience including yourself outside of her obsession, you stating "I'd say the same even if the roles were reversed” is an appalling stance to have when you look at everything Sierra did to Cody.

“TLDR; so long as a pairing isn't actively harming anyone you shouldn't really be shitting on people for liking what they like”

That is a statement I wholeheartedly agree with! But your pairing IS harmful and normalizes a toxic relationship. A victim pointed that out to you and that it's wrong to try to pass off your ship as Romantic or cute when in reality it’s alarming, just because it's not pedo or incestuous, doesn't mean it's not gross or immoral to ship much less portray as something that can be a good relationship.

Sierra’s love for Cody isn’t just her being a bit too pushy on her advances, it’s obsessive, and that by itself should be grounds for their entire relationship being marked as toxic and problematic. She has taken photos of him naked, she’s assaulted him, emotionally manipulated/pressured him into an apology in one episode, and doesn’t listen to his “no’s” when it comes to boundaries without either forcing herself through or pressuring him to a yes. 

It doesn't matter if you rewrite or make your own version of the ship, the canon basis itself is toxic, any attempt to normalize or romanticize what Sierra has done through “them talking it out/ Sierra gets help so they’re okay now” downplay’s what Cody has experienced as a victim and harms how people also see the ship and real victims experience through “forgive and forget”.

You can still write Sierra to be a character who improves or recovers from her behavior, im not saying she HAS to be this awful person. But letting her stay with the person who she made into a victim completely undermines all the change that you say she can go through/has gone through because that just means that she still got what she wanted with enough force. 

“I've still been shipping coderra for a long ass time and it's kinda hard to let pairings go when you've spent years creating a version of them in your head that's special to you,”

I get it's hard to let go of a ship you liked when you were younger and are attached to and I get you didn't recognize the problematic elements when you were younger. But you are a grown 21 yr old, who now in this day and time recognizes the issues and STILL chooses to cling and defend this ship against online people, some of who are minors including myself, and again, a VICTIM recognizing this ship is toxic and harmful, and ultimately come off as someone who is dismissive of the harm that this ship carries. - 🍉

[rickktish]

Today my mom and I finished the 90’s superman TV show Lois and Clark and it’s a really great series and I think every superman fan ever should watch it because Henry Cavill has nothing on Dean Cain, but that’s not actually what this post is about. This post is about the fact that in a pre-Superboy Jon Kent world, the central arc of Clark Kent’s character was that he wanted a family of his own, and this culminates in (spoilers) the last episode being centered on the question of what to do about having kids since Clark’s biology is not compatible with humans’ for making babies, and my anthropology major brain couldn’t not analyze this through a gender/sexuality lens since I took a class all about the cultural impact of gender and media portrayals of it.

Here’s the thing: in the vast majority of media (I almost said western media but then I thought about it more and I think it’s actually pretty darn universal) infertility is a female plotline. It’s one of the few plots that is inherently feminine in nature because for so much of history we’ve viewed infertility as a woman’s concern. If a man and a woman can’t have a child, after all, it must be something wrong with her, right? (Ha. Ha. Ha. It’s not funny, actually.) But this means that this silly little superman show from the 90’s is portraying an infertility plot line, but the problem isn’t the female character’s fertility, it’s her husband’s. Except that since fertility is an “inherently” feminine plot line, we get almost no emotional impact of this news on Clark himself. Lois, after all, is the one who spent the second to last episode going through the question of whether or not she’s ready to have children and deciding that she is. It could perhaps be argued that this is because Clark has been ready for a while, because a family is all that he wants, but I think it’s also because the question of a working woman choosing to have a child is, culturally speaking, a very different question to a man choosing to have a child, and has been since women became acceptable in the work place.

Here’s my point though: Clark gets the news that he can’t reproduce with Lois, goes to talk to her, and ends up holding her as she mourns this loss of something they were hoping for. She doesn’t comfort him, except by coming up with actions they can take to try to get around their incompatible biology. Lois is the one who gets to mourn, while Clark continues to emphasize that they will be okay no matter what because they love each other. And all I could think about watching this was how removed Clark was from his own fertility. How completely separated he was from it. Because in spite of the issue being his fertility and not hers, Lois is the one who gets to have an emotional arc about it, because she is the woman in the story.

One of the solutions they come up with is to ask Lois’s father, who (in rare fashion) is not a general but instead a handy-dandy generalized “scientist,” to see if there’s anything he can come up with for them. In order to do so, though, they need to reveal to him that Clark is Superman. The whole scene where they’re trying to figure out how to tell him feels a little bit queer, because I can see a modern writer turning everything from it into a trans reveal instead of a secret identity, but that’s a little beside the point. The point is that still, at no point does Clark seem distressed for himself, but instead for how Lois feels about all this— up to and including the point about her mother’s lack of maturity meaning that she doesn’t feel safe telling her they’re trying to have a baby or that they’re facing infertility.

And from all this, somehow all I can think of is how far we’ve culturally removed men from power over their own fertility. It feels like the only things that get discussed on the news or in shows, up to and including the abortion issue, is women’s fertility. We rarely talk about giving men education about and control over their fertility, only women. Women’s bodies, women’s rights, but what about the fact that the men don’t seem to be attached enough to their own fertility to know or even consider what they can do to control it for themselves? I actually wonder if the requirement (historical or present, depending on where you live) for women to get permission from their husbands to get their tubes tied has more to do with men’s fertility than with their wives’, because in some ways it seems that the only control a man is offered over his own fertility in our culture is by exerting control over his wife. There’s an alienation between men and their ability to procreate that honestly baffles me now that I’ve thought about it. It’s separated from them by their relationship with their partner’s body, and I wonder if somehow giving men more control over their own fertility, and educating them about it and how they can reclaim it from where it has been outsourced to another body, might be a positive step. I wonder if our cultural disconnect between fathers and children might take a few steps if men were taught to view their reproductive systems as more than just pleasure centers, as a part of their personal fertility.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this, I think there’s more to be explored with this idea but I’m not fully prepared to go on the biological tangent with it yet so I think I’m going to leave it at that. I just. What would it take for men to reclaim their own fertility from where it has been culturally outsourced to women’s bodies?

[duckiemimi]

i really don't wanna be that person but what is your thoughts on gojou with utahime as a pairing? like no hate to anyone that likes to ship them but i just don't see the significance in this relationship, especially since it feels like a reach when they try to compare utahime with geto for example, saying they have similarities supposedly, which?? utahime in general is like a typical girl from a manga that people seem to project onto because she has this tsukkomi vibes or something? like the whole dislike towards gojo is disregarded and treated as a joke despite adults in jjk are obviously capable of putting aside their distaste of one another to work for the greater good if goals aling. i honestly think these two work better as allies because they have rather sibling like type of dynamic. and i didn't mean for this to get so long and overboard but i needed to share and i hope you'll have some thoughts along the way because i really enjoy your theories and metas. have a good one :)

before i start, disclaimer: if you like gojohime, by all means, ship it! there’s nothing wrong with shipping two characters you think go together, so as long as you don’t pick unnecessary fights about it!

now let’s start.

i think i don’t see the appeal in gojohime because i see no chemistry between them. they’re professional coworkers who might even be acquaintances once in a while to me.

i think what i truly dislike, though, is how utahime is portrayed in the ship. if a woman says she doesn’t like a man, then she doesn’t like a man! but even through a reader’s standpoint, while these are fictional characters in a story we can find wholly knowable because they are readable (unlike in-real-life humans), there is no evidence to suggest that utahime even likes gojo. they work well together and that’s it.

i think because we don’t see much of utahime in the story, it becomes easy to see what isn’t there. most of her on-screen interactions with gojo, if not in tepid professional manner, are fiery, with her becoming defensive and quick to anger. i think many shippers read this as utahime becoming flustered and perhaps they see her as the quintessential “tsundere” who shows affection through irritability. if anything, though, i think we should consider the fact that teenage gojo used to blatantly call her weak and it’s definitely affected their dynamic as adults. utahime could still be a little resentful, and i don’t think gojo realizes this.

you also have to remember that gojo isn’t the most likable person (not character) in the series. nanami is not entirely fond of him, and neither are most of his students. they care for him, and they might love him, but he’s not an easy guy to get along with. it isn’t just utahime who finds him “annoying.”

as for the geto and utahime comparisons, they make me giggle a little. is it because geto is objectively the closest person to gojo, and that’s how shippers wished it was for utahime, or is it because they both have dark hair? besides the fact that pre-defection geto and utahime have a sense of duty as sorcerers (which also differ, by the way; their motivations were completely different), they have absolutely no similarities. where did this argument even come from?

i think it’s important to realize that you can ship characters without grasping at barely-there evidence. you don’t owe anyone your ship’s canonicity. you’re allowed to like a ship even if two characters have never even interacted with each other. of course, different people are bound to perceive the story differently, so i guess as long as you don’t pick fights, do whatever you want!