#And she literally doesn't know what to do without her mother or how to properly take her spit but she tries and it only gets harder when—

[captainsweet]

I'm confused how me writing some request somehow ended up with most of the cast being dictators, a literal war happening, literal slavery and tons of racism, and so many other sucky things. But then again, they did request it to be Steven Universe based, so... What else do you expect.

[radiance1]

Killer Croc and Jack Fenton are brothers.

Killer Croc was the first born, just a about 5 years older than Jack. Their father was a large man, much larger than should be possible considering he never had a meta gene.

But oh boy would it have not surprised them if he did. Because that man was strong, 10 feet tall, and shrugged off things that would injure most people.

Like a brick to the head.

Anyways.

Croc was entranced with his younger brother; he was so small so much tinier than he had any right to be, and cuter than a button. He babbled like most babies do, but Croc wouldn't think twice before calling his baby brother the best baby of them all.

His dad could fit him in the palm of his hand easily! Which was just one of Jack's many great qualities in his opinion!

Croc and Jack's parents weren't really on the best of terms, Croc could tell. He didn't know why, really, but he didn't want his baby bro to feel unloved in any sort of way, and it's not like he really had friends to hang out with, plus his parents were busy with jobs.

So he mostly spent his time taking care of and playing with Jack. Changing diapers, feeding him, lifting him up and down with his tail, just the normal sibling stuff.

He feels kind of bad for his dad though, whatever kind of job he had didn't even let him come home most days, and when he did he could barely even walk upright without falling asleep and jolting awake. He still made time for them, however, when he got those rare few off days.

He's honestly surprised that man managed to drive a car properly in the state he was in.

Their mother was often out of the house, Crocc didn't know what she was doing but he just thought it was like his dad. Unlike his dad, however, she didn't really like him. He didn't really know why, nor did he really care either if he was to be honest.

Around a year later the tension between their parents got so thick it could be cut with a butter knife. Then it turned to arguments in the rare times they both were in the house, he didn't even know his parents could make such cutting remarks to each other, and then both of them being in the house less than before.

Then when he turned 10, and Jack 5. They got divorced. Croc was left with his mother and Jack got taken by his father. His mother didn't take the divorce well, really, probably because at the same time she got fired from whatever the hell she was doing and was left jobless.

Then she dropped the bomb on his that his dad wasn't even his actual dad and Jack is only his half-sibling and then promptly abandoned him in the sewers with the rats and what was most likely very poisoned water due to it being the sewers and Gotham.

Well. Fuck.

Croc thinks that Jack doesn't even remember him due to how young he was, nor did he ever see his dad again cause, y'know, being abandoned in the sewers and all.

Then multiple years later he ran into his brother again and got DAMN was he tall. Not taller than him, but it was basically the equivalent of a gut punch to Croc, because he remembers his baby bro being so tiny, so baby.

He blames his father's genes for him being 8 feet taller now. A head shorter than him, sure. But he wants back his small baby bro alright.

Then he finds out his baby bro has a family.

And fuck did he not want to involve himself anymore in fear of being a catalyst for tearing said family apart due to being, well, him and all. Then he was promptly (quite literally) dragged over to meet said family despite his stance on the matter.

Then he finds out he's just treated like a normal person with zero amount of fear. His wife? She had to have a giant in her family too because she was 7 feet tall and was smart enough to kick his ass.

His daughter? 6 feet tall and their first meeting she accidently became his therapist. Also, he was sure she was a meta of some kind, probably something to do with wolves.

Then finally, their son.

It felt like he was thrown back to his childhood when he saw him, he looked so much like Jack did, and he was so, so tiny just like his baby bro was. He had to physically hold himself back from doing anything with the kid because he feared he would accidentally break him or something.

Then he found out that apparently his nephew was half-dead and that his brother and his wife hated ghosts with a passion, built a portal to the other side, had their city attack by the ghost king and then promptly found out about their son's half-dead status and had to do a major revamp of basically everything they knew and acted upon.

Which they're still working on.

Oh and also their daughter is a werewolf, she had a meta gene from someone of his dad's side and only recently activated it.

All of that which was a lot to take in for old Killer Croc, also he knew his niece had something to do with wolves.

So, Killer Croc in all of his life from the point of being abandoned at up to now, decided to go screw the bats and whatever they're attempts of figuring out what the fuck's going on with him (look at you Red Hood.) and decided to try and integrate himself into this family and brother's life again as best he can.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Taking this out of Faith's notes because it's not fair to clog them up but seriously I feel like Tilney is very often boiled down to charming man who knows about muslin but to me honestly the people who are like "hmm seems like a fake flakey guy" are more right because it's definitely got this underlying cynicism to it which put together with the charm gives a fairly calculating feel. But to me it's like! Imagine your mother dies and your father didn't murder her but when you describe it later you say he as good as killed her by his slow cruelty and disinterest, and you're left with your sister, your older brother who is also AWFUL, and that same father in an old obscure abbey. What do you do? a. you stop really liking or trusting many people because 2/3 of the people you're meant to like and trust are awful, and b. you get Really Good at being liked. Because that's going to get you out of that house, and it's also going to, as much as possible, save you when you are still in that house. It's not the ONLY response to an essentially emotionally abusive situation like that, but it is a clear response.

And this also explains why Tilney doesn't seem to take things seriously very often, because making a joke out of everything is also a tried and true way of surviving a life like that. If you laugh at it then it won't hurt you so he laughs at his family and he laughs at the shitty parts of society and at the Thorpes and at everything.

Except Catherine then turns up and she's not calculated, she's the opposite of calculated. She's charming because she's so honest, she runs up and pours out how sorry she is that she didn't make the walk and how much she wanted to and had been whisked away, and she tells it without an inch of propriety and it's impossible to keep being angry with her. She's silly but she's also inexplicable clear-eyed, she sees the unhappiness at Northanger so clearly even if she imagines the source wrong! That's always been so important to me as part of her character that she was RIGHT there WAS something rotten in the state of General Tilney!!! It just wasn't Literal Murder. And I think Tilney sees that and he loves that because it's so different from the twisted nature of his own past and upbringing, because it's true and honest and good and he still strives for those things (because even if his charmingness IS calculated, he still sees young women and their chaperones unhappy and abandoned and immediately steps in! he is still very much kind! I might speculate about how it's possible to live an identity for so long that it becomes true, but in this case that would just be speculation because we don't have enough information so I won't.) And then I think he does come to love Cathy properly with more time and all, but the original attraction I think is how straightforward she is.

And I KNOW this isn't the only interpretation of the characters but it's the one that makes Tilney make sense to me, he's too cynical and slightly bitter to truly be the perfectly kind charming man he makes himself out to be, but he genuinely cares too much to be a fraud. I think the complexities arise from the survival mechanisms he's created which make sense given his background, and how they intersect and interact with the rest of his nature and the outside world.

[stillbothered]

Some music for the road

My take, I think that marinette is immediately just a less interesting character than adrien by default and the writers just gave her a much bigger role and pushed adrien down for favourites sake, the show would be so much more interesting if chat was just in it more. Eg why the hell was adrien in a different country when the final battle against the villain they been battling for 5 SEASONS who also happens to be HIS DAD aiming to bring HIS MUM back to life... why was his girlfriend there but not him like what... and it's forever gonna irk me that gabriel NEVER finds out that CHAT NOIR IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN HIS SON... ONE OF THE GREATEST REVEALS AND YOU JUST DIDNT USE IT. Not including the fact adrien/chat doesn't even know his FATHER was MONARCH, this one is a little more forgivable since it's an ongoing plot line but the fact that his ex and his cousin know fsr but not him, they don't even use the fact they know they just do... and THEM AND HIS GF AND HIS ASSISTANT/ACTING MOTHER KNOW HES A SENTI BUT NOT HIM

.. kill me now.

Maybe its just my fomo but the way I would acc crash out if I was him rn like idc if mari get hers GIVE THIS MAN A VILLAIN ARC I BEGG. This is also just half of my rant.

Everything would be so much better if they just let Adrichat fight his own battles, fight his father, fight his COUSIN. literally emotion would be so good if after ladybug cast her lucky charm it was a ring telling her holdup imma let chat deal with this one (cuz tikki would know their cousins) and pretend felix never snapped adrien, chat has a fight with him and reveals he is adrien and they can just talk in an empty paris and we could get to know their relationship and MAYBE HE COULD FIND OUT HES A SENTI PLSSSSSSSS. Kagami could also fit there somewhere I honestly have nothing bad to say about her tbh.

My (probably) last point is Chat blanc, it was one of the breaking points where LB starts to leave CN cuz she can't trust him. In the mlb uni getting akumatized is a weakness and gives off a lack of control. YET IT HAPPENED TO CN 3 times without a fail like I get his dad can control him but he couldn't have borrowed one of Mari's 8 failed akumatizations??

Chat should've fought Cat blanc cuz it gives him a good reason to finally stop being in love with Ladybug if thats how u want the story to go. Cuz in s4, when he stopped loving her, it felt weird he was so smitten one episode then rejecting her the next?? It was too sudden. Chat blanc could be him realizing, my love for her is too dangerous and yada yada his feelings hath changed, then he can focus on smth else (LIKE BEING THE MAIN CHARACTER IN HIS OWN DAMN SHOW) also s4 him was not it he was too pushy and honestly both mari and chat need to learn to back up cuz can this show not convey boundaries properly? Like spending your parents savings to follow ur CRUSH across the globe is crazy work, and trying to destroy a sub in for ur partner out of jealous rage is no better. I hate how sometimes chats whole thing is needing ladybug I wish they just explored what HE needs not just his one sided love cuz it gets to a point

Anyw thanks for still listening to my half asleep poorly written rant and babyeeeeeee

[hbheavensent]

Blitzo/Millie/Moxxie

Ohhhh I.M.P, I have to say these are probably my least favorite redesigns (BUT I LOVE MY MILLIE, MILLIE I LOVE YOU!!)

Starting with Shitzo, I realized I actually do like his signature look a lot so a majority of it boils down to giving him a new outfit that reflects that he grew up in greed. Oh and making his scars look a touch more like real scars, and blinding him in one eye. I thought it'd be interesting down the line that while Fizz suffered the worse injuries, he could be accommodated properly while Blitzo doesn't really have the money to be able to. Also in my vision, Blitz is a "crossbreed", his mother being who we see in the show- an Imp from Greed who cheated on his abusive father with a Succubus. It also gives Cash a reason to give Fizz more attention and for Blitz to face a bit more strife. I also imagine that before Blowing Up And Acting Like He Don't Know Nobody (ref), he had small Succubus wings, so his trauma literally clipped his wings! Also I've killed off Barbie Wire, she's dead. Sorry gamers. But! That only gives Blitz more of a reason to force himself not to get attached to anyone. For the STOLAS and Blitz stuff, it can all still happen relatively the same without them meeting in childhood. He breaks in, Stolas sees a opportunity to talk to ANYONE outside of his awful situation regardless of circumstance, Blitz tries to steal the book and ends up fucking the bird- Though it is soon after this that Stolas tracks it and Blitz down. Stolas suggests the arrangement of sex for book, because THAT was the best and only good sex he's ever had, and Blitz agrees. It's made more clear that at the start they BOTH see this as a transactional thing with Stolas gaining feelings later and Blitz not letting himself. I should probably save all that for another post though lmao-

For Millie I wanted her theme of being sorta downtrodden like the rest of I.M.P to focus on her background of having a working class Imp family in Wrath. Like most people in Wrath, they provide for the Forever War, a manifestation of Satan's rage which all Imps have a duty to keep at bay unless it overwhelms the ring. This manifests itself as shadows of humans fighting, tanks, dust storms, etc. Millie has been primed to do this all her life but what she really wants is to make a name for herself much like Blitzo. She could meet him in the same way, being a somewhat famous hired mercenary but not really assassin. I like what they did with her in Ghostfuckers (even if I don't LOVE that ep..) and I think her having that emotional intelligence is important with her coming from a big family. I want her arc to focus on her doing things selfishly and doing things for others and what the right balance is for her. She somewhat selfishly left her sister behind to take care of the farm at a critical moment when her parents were starting to get too old to handle it, but now she compensates for that guilt by throwing herself at other peoples needs like Blitz, Loona, and Moxxie. Also I notably made her less "thicc" and more plus sized/farm strong. It makes more sense to me for her to be properly sturdy. Also I thought it'd be cute if a rarer trait of Wrath Imps was to have cow/hog-like tails. <3 Moxxie, my beloved loan shark baby who looks just like his papa. I'm SO fine with a running theme of the show being generational trauma and how it cascades, but I wanted to tweak Moxxie a bit for sure. I love that he's a theater nerd, which I imagine his mother was too and why they bonded so much. His father can still be a misogonistic and questionably very homophobic asshole, I think it adds to it really. But I am making Crimson a loanshark, which also would give Moxxie something in common with Blitz and why Blitz took him on. Very much seeing himself in Moxxie and visa versa, it was more of a bonus that Moxxie is crazy good with guns. I still like his arc being along the lines of him learning to be confident and not rely on external validation. Anyway I love Moxxie, honestly my main inspiration for changing up his background was because he looked SO much like Millie that it was bugging me.

Also as a teaser, this is what I have stored up for you guys <3

[tizeline]

I’ve never seen a separated au with Leo being raised by big mama, what do you think that would be like? (Since he’s kinda rebellious)

For the record, there are AUs where Leo's been raised by Big Mama, the ones I know of are Gemini AU by tangledinink and True Colors AU by v-albion. I'm not super familiar with either of them, but they're there if you wanna check them out.

That being said-

LEO being raised by BIG MAMA omg I have THOUGHTS

Listen, I don't see enough people compare Leo to Big Mama, but he's quite similar to her. Splinter and BM never got a kid together, BUT IF THEY DID that kid would literally be Leo he's basically just a fusion of the two of them!!

As I've mentioned several times before because I love bringing it up, Leo is strategic, quick-witted, observant and good at talking. In the show (as well as in my own AU) Leo's strengths aren't really recognized, let alone aknowledged for a big portion of the story. Because of that, for a long time he doesn't really get the chance to develop these skills, as much potential Leo has to become a master planner his impulsiveness and inexperience has a tendency to get him into trouble.

BUT! All of these skills also happen to be skills that Big Mama has and would value in Leo. So if he were to actually have to opportunity to not only be raised by BM but also trained by her for his entire life. If he got to properly learn strategy, planning, manipulation...?

... Holy shit Leo would be terrifying.

Think about it, canon!Leo managed to out-smart BM in Many Unhappy Returns without any real experience, just imagine what he could do with a whole life-time of training.... yikes!

Not sure what exactly Big Mama and Leo's relationship would look like. In my opinion she would view him as her son and love him dearly, especially if she knew that he's Splinter's biological son.... it's just that BM has interesting ways of showing affection. ("The love of my life just proposed to me?? Great! I'm gonna lock him up in my gladiator fighting ring for the rest of eternity!") She'd at the very least be quite controlling, I imagine.

As you pointed out, Leo can be quite rebellious, so that mixed with Big Mama's obsessive need to be in complete control of everyone around her would certainly cause some tension. Actually... considering how clever Leo would be in this AU... uh oh.

All of these qualities that BM initially appreciated and encouraged in Leo, what if, as Leo became more and more capable, Big Mama started to eventually view them in a more negative light? If she feels like she's loosing control over Leo, if she interprets Leo's rebellion as not just a normal teenage need for independence but rather him malicously working against her. What if she starts viewing him not as an asset or as a tool, but rather a threat?

If BM has reason to believe that Leo might try to overthrow her and take control over her criminal empire, she might take preemptive action and get rid of him before he has the chance to get rid of her.... Not like murder-get-rid-of, I don't think she'd just kill him, lol! But like lock him up, maybe throw him into the Battle Nexus, I dunno. Anything that would allow her to remain in control of both him and her business.

As for Leo, maybe he would actually try to overthrow BM. Considering he was raised by a literal mafia boss, his moral compass is gonna be a bit wack. Maybe Leo's desire for control over himself would cause him to try to seize control over his mother's business. Oooooorrrrr maybe Leo just wants some independance but doesn't actually want to compete with BM, so when she interprets his actions and behavior as malicious he's not prepared for that at all and, as a result, is more than a little hurt that his own mother would take such extreme actions against him. Who knows?

Hhhhhhh there's a lot of fun posibilities here but MAN I'm not really in the mood to work on an entirely new AU. Maybe I'll create some art for it I dunno, this concept is really fun, but I'm not gonna turn this into a proper Thing, so if anyone else wanna steal this concept and explore it for themselves, feel more than free to do that!

[butterfly-ribbon]

the most immediate aspect of ena5 i keep coming back to is how ena lingers on how those boys asked if "she was a guy too." it comes up repeatedly throughout the event, her guilt about not knowing what to say, not reacting perfectly at the time, what she could have done differently, and most importantly how she can’t stop thinking about it – it’s exactly what mizuki hates, what she fears, because mizuki's wish was always for nothing between them to change—her wish is to not be treated in a different way from any other girl.

i think this makes sense in the context of ena feeling guilty, but it's also ena being cognizant of the fact that she can't help but fixate on the truth behind mizuki’s secret. internalized misogyny has always been a struggle for ena, despite how honest she is in her hatred of men (especially her father) – even though she clearly loves girls, that harm inflicted upon her, that victim-blaming and infantilization lead to an externalized self-loathing which she takes out on others almost in spite of herself.

ena's first focus event was about her feeling like she isn't a good enough artist for niigo and the trauma she has from her father telling her she isn't talented enough – quite literally him telling her she will never be good enough to do the one thing that fuels her existence.  her second one is fairly self-contained, less about niigo and more about her trying to go back to art class after running away, and once again dealing with the long-term effect of how her father dismissed her. her third is about learning to engage with mafuyu as a victim in productive ways and learning to recognize that her pain can coexist with mafuyu’s which is very important in the context of how ena reacted to finding out that mafuyu is suicidal despite being OWN. and then her fourth is her having the opportunity to see her father as a flawed person rather than the insurmountable idea of an Inherently Talented Artist. these four events have built up to that which she now has to recognize in the complex experience mizuki has with womanhood.

her fifth is also a very obvious parallel to the third, because while ena does very genuinely care for mafuyu and mizuki – she ends up projecting so much self-loathing and envy onto mafuyu, leaving mizuki in between to manage and deflect their emotions – even sometimes making subtle passive-aggressive remarks to get back at ena either because she can't risk fighting or expressing too much of herself and her own dissatisfaction because she would at the biggest disadvantage as the more vulnerable between the two. and when ena has to navigate speaking to mafuyu's mother, there is a recognition of how subtly insidious the woman is and how it both contrasts and parallels her experience with her father. it’s further meaningful because ena3 is about ena breaking the shell of her victim blaming mindset. the way ena treats mafuyu changes a lot from hereon, but what’s important is that isn't enough on its own. ena's growth isn't complete unless she learns to properly engage with mizuki, which she can only do by learning to engage her complex reality as a trans girl.

with that in mind, i really love to see ena acknowledging not just the way she fixates on the “what ifs” and “how she could've handled things differently” – it’s further how she fixates on mizuki's transness. what’s also even more important is that she acknowledges that this is what mizuki hates more than anything. she knows it isn't right of her. she doesn't want this because she doesn't want to hurt mizuki in the way she fears the most. this is through no fault of mizuki’s of course. after all, she doesn't deserve to have her transness fixated upon because that turns it into something inherently Other. that’s why i also like that they're willing to acknowledge that being outed and acceptance isn't simple. it can be complex and painful on both sides without it being something that decentralizes the person most affected (the trans girl, mizuki).

as much as mizuki wished she could just say it and keep going as though nothing changed this couldn't have happened either ... we live in a world where misogyny and transmisogyny are baked into everything ... it's vital for ena to engage with her own biases and prejudices when thinking about approaching mizuki because otherwise she can’t move forward with her. she can't just treat this as though it changes nothing about their dynamic because it absolutely does recontextualize so much … ena being a transmisogyny exempt girl holds fundamental privilege/power over mizuki, just like the prejudiced students do, so ena must tread the thorn-laden path, enduring pain, in order to reach mizuki and bathe her in the warmth of her light, because the pain of making mistakes and still pushing forward is worth everything.

this is ena’s turning point. it's ena talking to someone who knew mizuki back in middle school – the time when she was forced back into the closet – learning the extent of the loneliness she's always felt. she thinks back to the specific moment where student A is like "are you a guy too?" and then finally starts to understand the depth of the cruelty that mizuki has been subjected to. even if she can't truly imagine it (and while we're on this topic, i think this is yet another way the writing acknowledges that mizuki is not a boy and that this is abuse). it also isn't fair for ena to continue fixating on mizuki's transness in this way while wallowing in her own misery, since in doing so, she would be centering herself when the one who was the victim in that moment was mizuki herself.

ena might've messed up, but it wasn't out of bigotry or actual like... looking down on mizuki. she acted in a way that she ended up regretting in a very messy situation and i think that's meaningful too, because again she's done that in many situations with mafuyu and genuinely felt bad about it after the fact. ena is messy and her way of loving people ... she can be so ... rough sometimes, y'know? but she always shows a willingness to learn from her mistakes and interrogate her own behavior. even in my footprints, your destination she keeps pressuring mizuki to talk with her about her problems for most of the event and it's not out of any ill intent, but it's not a good approach because this kind of thing can easily veer into coercive territory and that's particularly traumatic in the context of a trans girl being forced to come out? ena obviously didn't mean anything bad by it because she didn't know or understand the gravity of what she was dealing with, and she was genuinely concerned for mizuki's well-being and wanted her to know that she has someone in her corner who's more than happy to hear her out, but she's also brash, demanding and hot headed so it was a good opportunity for her to see things from a different perspective, leading her to adopt a more patient and understanding approach for the first time? this event builds on this in an interesting way specifically because it isn't afraid to explore how a cis girl like ena needs to unpack her own biases before she's able to connect with mizuki again, but what makes this even better is that mizuki doesn't exist to fix her or make her a better person – mizuki makes ena want that herself. ena doesn't become a better person because mizuki acts like a manic pixie dream girl for her (if anything she constantly fails at this in ena's presence because her mask starts cracking around her a lot), but ena strives to better herself because she can see those cracks and she wants to provide mizuki with genuine support. she wants to be someone that mizuki can truly rely on and drop the facade around because she loves her so much.

mizuki is also being allowed a more mafuyu role here and i think that's compelling insofar as a deconstruction of mizuki's facade and how it's rooted in a fraught engagement with transfemininity in the history of anime and manga.

i also really love this because it’s a callback to the locked room from mizu5. once again, the reason ena finds mizuki is because she knows her better than anyone else. this time there are no boys to co-opt mizuki or interfere with both of them. she ended up avoiding going to school directly and this being the reason ena found her … it's like an answer arc to mizu5. the locked room of mizuki’s heart and how ena has the key to that, finally, after making effort to understand her. this could also be seen as a reference to the hermit cards and the lock upon mizuki’s heart.

[aliensupastar]

for a show that has a motto of "every second counts", it sure does love to waste my fucking time

why has it taken two whole seasons for carmy and richie to make up? why was carmy not wanting to do restaurants anymore an idea introduced at the beginning of THIS season instead of built up seasons one, two, and three? sure, back in season one there's a mention of his motivations being tied up in wanting to fix his family, but then we see him gain hope for the restaurant at the end of the episode, and then be inspired in season two and determined to challenge himself and his staff in season three (for better or for worse). it just feels like he's doing the same thing again, running from good things in his life, removing himself under the notion that he'll get in the way of good things happening. that's the same thing donna did, removed herself from the bear because she was afraid she'd get in the way of a good thing! and it's not inherently a bad thing for your main character to run into the same issue over and over again, it's called having a fatal flaw! but that doesn't mean your main character can stagnate in the way that carmy does. in season one, carmy progresses, he learns that he hasn't been abandoned by his family and mikey and that he's not a hopeless cause. in season two, he backslides, avoids responsibility and uses claire as an escape and it ultimately leads to him failing his family, and it's devastating to watch. season three should've spent time with him apologising and then reintegrating himself into the function of the restaurant. have him slide back into the mentor role again (for sydney, tina, and marcus), learn how to collaborate with richie so that the front of house and back of house communicate with each other properly, start learning to be there for natalie like she tells him she wants him to in season fucking one. he calls her to apologise for not coming to see the baby and she still ends up comforting him, and SHE still has to bring the baby to HIM.

and carmy is my favourite, so he's the only person i'm talking about here, but the other main characters also have disappointing arcs. i like richie learning how to deal with frank being in his family; it could've happened in one season instead of two. i like sydney's dilemma between shapiro and the bear a lot, it feels like she's the only character that's been really progressing. i like natalie's baby storyline, i think "ice chips" is the best episode of season three... i think francie fak could've stayed a gag instead of having her appear onscreen for the first time and then have her issue with natalie be resolved in one day, with no actual details of what betrayal took place. there is quite literally nothing for nat to do in season four, and sure she can't be at the restaurant considering she's just had a baby, but y'know, mothers are human beings with a lot of interesting things going on, too, and i don't think having a child means nat should be demoted from main character to recurring character (though i get that it's probably tied up in the fact that abby elliott had a baby in real life and couldn't be on set as much).

but, instead of giving its characters or the pace of the show any sort of momentum, the writers devote way, way too much runtime to the fucking Faks. do any of us give a shit about ted fak telling his new girlfriend kelly that he loves her? i'm serious. this show used to be a genuine dramedy, now it's a melodrama that cuts to its family of comedic relief characters fucking around a few times per episode.

i've been a fan of the bear since it premiered, it is without a doubt, my favourite show of all time; there's no other show out there that means this much to me. and i know tons of people hated season three, but i thought its worst crime was being imperfect when the first two seasons were perfect, and i figured if the showrunners/writers could learn from the criticism of season three, then season four could really turn things around and it would come back better than ever.

i realise now that seasons three and four being filmed at the same time was a bad sign. i think there's still hope for season five, it hasn't been filmed or even confirmed yet, and the show has a tendency to switch up its style, but i am beyond disappointed that we've had two dud seasons. this is still my favourite show ever, and i will be writing more carmy fanfiction ASAP, and continuing to hope that season five is better.

p.s.: i very much stand by all my opinions in this post, but i would love to hear other opinions and have discussions about season four/the show in general!

[pedge-page]

I can literally imagine preggo wife randomly going vegan after watching a bbc documentary on animals and automatically contradicting it after seeing Joel eat the fattest steak known to mankind.

She'd be soooooo dignified too. Like peeling her soy beans and boasting how full and satisfied she is. Plus she's saving helpless baby animals who remind her of the baby she's carrying. It all makes sense. Mothers care for life.

And Joel's telling her how ridiculous she's being, that she needs protein and natural things found in meat for her AND the baby, that she's not going to get enough nutrients from peeling beans all day.

And Joel just knows, if he directly tells you otherwise, you'll be more stubborn and go even harder on your vegan trip. So he takes a better approach and let's you do you.

And cooks the most fabulous, juiciest, thickest steak, the most expensive cut from the deli too, and only makes one for himself. And you're sitting across from him at the table, staring at him lightly salt it while you poke at your nuts and berries. Feeling so exhausted and hungry and yet crazed like a lioness ready to attack a child just to get food. (Its been 27 hours since you watched the documentary).

Joel cuts a cubed piece and puts it in his mouth, moaning loudly and chewing slowly. Making a big show of how delicious it is, savoring the flavor without saying a word to you.

He glances at you gripping your fork so hard it's bending. And he decides to get up and get a glass of water.

He turns for maybe 0.4 seconds and hears a loud thunk of a chair hitting the ground and shuffling feet before looking back to his place setting and seeing you tear into his steak with your bear hands, k9s sawing away and your jaw working extra hard to rip big chunks of it in your mouth.

And then he's running over to you and cutting it up quickly into small bite sized pieces, lecturing to you about a fork so you don't accidentally choke. Doesn't even get upset you've swallowed his $35 dinner whole without asking.

Joel just knows what you need, and how to convince you properly whenever you wanna be stubborn about it.

[coraniaid]

AU: Kendra returns to Sunnydale when she learns that Drusilla isn't dead.

Having Kendra show up as early as possible to have as much of an impact on the course of S2 as she can:

Buffy isn't the only Slayer who dreams about Drusilla still being alive. It takes Kendra a little while to fly out to California though, so she only gets to Sunnydale some time during the events of Innocence. She tries her best not to say 'I told you so' when she hears about the situation with Angel, and not to let slip that she was worried enough about Buffy that she came here without her Watcher's permission, and to hide how impressed she is by the sight of Buffy with a rocket launcher. She doesn't necessarily do a great job of any of those three things.

As both a literal and metaphorical representative of the "Angel's a vampire, he should die" school of thought, Kendra also argues for Buffy using lethal force to stop the werewolf in Phases (at least before they learn the werewolf is Oz), and is much more sympathetic to Jenny/Janna than Buffy is inclined to be (Kendra doesn't know Jenny at all -- she never even met her in canon -- so she doesn't have any personal sense of betrayal and is mostly confused about why everyone is upset because it doesn't actually make any sense that they are). Neither of these things do much to endear her to Buffy (or to Willow, who gets to be jealous of Buffy spending time with another Slayer a whole season ahead of schedule), but maybe Jenny ends up offering Kendra somewhere to stay while she's in Sunnydale (I think the implication is that she previously stayed at Buffy's house while Joyce was out of town buying art, but she can't do that this time).

Kendra and Jenny bonding as the group's two outcasts also means Kendra is there to save Jenny from Angelus in Passion. (Given that Jenny is staying late at the school to research her spell she probably doesn't have the foresight to ask Kendra to come with her for back-up, but what else is Kendra going to do but keep an eye on her?) Kendra herself still doesn't really approve of re-ensouling Angelus, but thanks to her it happens a few episodes ahead of schedule. With his soul back, Angel speed-runs his Season 3 arc and quickly breaks up with Buffy "for her own good" and heads off to brood fight crime be directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of many defence attorneys in LA.

Willow is impressed by Jenny's spell to ensoul Angel -- it's a lot more magic than Jenny had admitted to being able to do before -- but Jenny herself probably doesn't let Willow get involved in the magic (certainly not if Giles is also there to help). They both tell her it's too dangerous. But Willow's old friend Amy is still getting into witchcraft around this time, and maybe Willow starts hanging out with her more now that Buffy and Kendra have gotten over their earlier disagreements about Angel and are patrolling together most nights. ("Really," Buffy tells her friends brightly, while explaining unprompted for the fifth time how incredible it is to go on patrol with another Slayer and how they definitely don't need to try to set her up with Scott Hope or anybody else even though she's single now, "We're just good friends.")

Angel's departure doesn't stop Drusilla from trying to wake Acathla. And since Kendra is already in Sunnydale, Sam Zabuto himself has to bring the sword blessed by the knight who first slew the demon to California. Meeting Kendra's Watcher (and learning more about her lack-of-relationship with her parents) prompts Buffy to come out as a Slayer to her mother (after taking care of Acathla and chasing Dru and Spike out of town). In this new context -- no murder charge, Kendra still alive and there for moral support instead of Spike, no impending world-ending deadline and no reason Buffy can't sit down and explain things properly -- Joyce takes the revelation rather better. (Actually, her mom had already picked up that Buffy had broken up with her older boyfriend and started sneaking out after dark to spend time with a girl Joyce doesn't know and whose existence Buffy seemed to be trying to hide, and that Buffy seems a lot happier and more comfortable in her own skin than she did a month or so ago, so when Buffy starts to tell her she has something important to share Joyce thinks she knows what it is already. It takes Buffy a bit longer to figure that part out for herself.)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I wonder if Americans have like.. a very different view of maturity than the rest of the wolrd. I can't help jut think that whenever the whole "no 14 year old girl would go for a 12 year old", like, i admit that i never saw that happening in my country, but i do still remember a fair amount of my teenage years and frankly, 12 and 14 years old aren't really that apart in emotional maturity, they were around the same. So whenever they bring that about Kataang it just confuses me ans why the whole "she acts like mom to him" never made any sense to me, i guest that it could just be looking their past with rose tinted glasses.

From what I've seen, americans are weird about age in general, that's why they latched onto that bullshit "Your brain is not fully developed until you're 25" research so fast so they can treat 20 year olds as babies, AND why is so common for parents to just fucking kick their kids out of the house the second they turn 18, regardless of if they're in any way ready for that and will be able to provide for themselves because "you're grown now."

Aang likes to goof off? That means he's a toddler that doesn't take anything seriously and is "too pure" to understand the concept of sex, nevermind that he's constantly forcing himself to cope with unbelievable grief and trauma for the sake of properly doing his job to save the world, and he's literally at the stage where the hormones are SCREAMING.

Katara is nurturing and a GIRL? Clearly she's an adult. That's totally a mother right there. Can't be a mother without being an adult. She's practically 40, Aang is too young for her.

Unlike Zuko. You know, 'cause he's angry and bitter? And thinks he can fix every problem through war? That's adult behavior, right? That's totally not poor coping mechanisms and a result of literal propaganda, right? You've seen the movies, everything can be magically fixed by a bomb.

Again, PAINFULLY american. "Pacifism is a naive, childish idea. War is the ONLY way, that's how REAL men solve problems." Literal cold-war propaganda/logic.

[slakedbyiron]

I'm drunk again but we'll take a crack at it. I couldn't find the post so here's the page again lets analyse

Okay no 1 Francisco and the dojo:

Izzy feels so bad that she can't do what seems to be a really tough spectral move (on the previous page only Spender who is described as Francisco's strongest student can do it properly) at only 6 YEARS OLD she starts crying - and Izzy isn't actually a part of this training session so it implies that even Francisco thinks this is too hard for her to do, and yet she still holds herself to the standard of an adult spectral because that's what Francisco has taught her

He holds her to an unattainably high standard and the one thing she is properly skilled at and proud of (her exceptional connection with spirits and her skills with tools) is belittled by him as weak and cheating. Francisco doesn't accept anything less than an automatic reaction to physical pain as a reason to cry - and even then he still ridicules her, saying "is that all?" as if a child wouldn't cry at being hurt.

He also calls her mother over to deal with her, even though she's a nurse she's incredibly busy and just about to leave for work he feels like it's her issue - presumably Amy feels secure working as much as she does because she believes that Izzy has a strong support system at the dojo, knowing how much she looks up to Francisco and how many people are around to protect her. on the next page he implies it should be her job to look after Izzy at the expense of her career because he's housing them both - despite the fact that her father still lives in town. similar to the way Isabel is treated by him, he holds Amy to a higher standard because Ángel has disappointed him, as if it has anything to do with her.

Despite the fact that Spender is the only person on this page who doesn't actually live in the dojo he's the only one who goes to see if Izzy is alright - the rest spend way more time with Izzy yet seem awkward to borderline disinterested in her pain in the 4th panel - I know she's a young kid but they should have a stronger connection with her. This could be related to how she's literally pitted against adults in the present, whereas in the past it's slightly more theoretical/in her head

That leads us to no 2 Spender and Izzy's relationship:

The penultimate panel I feel shows how close she and Spender are. It implies that he picks her up a lot because she instinctively knows what he's doing even though he turns around without saying anything. In addition the fact that he picks her up presumably also because she says she hurt her foot, so she doesn't have to walk on it - even though banging your foot wouldn't really impede your walking

Also, Spender doesn't even notice how Francisco is treating Izzy this whole page, because he's too wrapped up in seeing if she's okay (the final panel shows he still has his hero worship of Francisco which I'd hope he wouldn't if he realised how terrible he treats her) this is something he still does in the present day but it hinders Izzy because he focuses on "keeping the kids safe" rather than emotionally secure and regulated. It also very literally happens again in chapter 4 when he's worrying with Lucifer about whether he kept the kids safe properly and misses Izzy asking for his help dealing with Francisco.

finally no 3 more on Isabel:

She's too young to have as strong a handle on her emotions as present-day Isabel (read: emotional repression) but she still thinks that this is a weakness to have a completely normal reaction that all kids that young would have to frustration. Isabel is only 6 years old and she's already internalised that emotional pain is insignificant and weak, and that the only 'valid' pain is physical, as shown by her lie. despite this she's still invalidated because the pain wasn't bad enough. Also her kneejerk lying about pain is a trait commonly seen in abused children.

This can be seen to have both the aforementioned emotional implications in current Izzy, as well as physical - she attempts to use plasters to cover a wound that actually needs stitches because she doesn't want her grandfather to know and be disappointed, risking an infection.

I realise half of these are just statements w no conclusions but I hope you can infer what I mean. anyway concluding statement no one looks out for Izzy like they should and also her and Spender's relationship and all of its shortcomings is one of my fav things abt pnat both bc there's so much meat there and bc they're my 2 fav characters

[thekirammanjinx]

"The meta level"? Bro what are yall talking about. Yall literally will just say words and act like it's comprehensive. Caitlyn was not classist. Because if she were zaun would've been absolutely obliterated in s2. Like that's literally a big part of why things happened the way they happen in s2 and in s1.

She made disgusting choices for her own benefit... please let's examine these choices that she made, allegedly, for her own benefit:

Number one will probably be asking vi to join the enforcers; which she didn't do solely for her own benefit, was it wildly under considered on her part? Maybe. But let's not act like imminent doom wasn't breathing down zaun and jinx neck because of all the things jinx and co did.

Her mother just got murdered, the council bombed; war was impending.

Number two would probably be the gassing of the chembarons; a disgusting choice yes, but also a last resort hail mary decisions; jinx already started a war ultimately when she bombed the council. Then innocents were attacked and killed during the memorial, by the chembarons. Another act of terrorism and war. Caitlyn did not make this choice lightly and she didn't make it for her own benefit. Lol.

The most self benefitting thing she did was trying to find jinx, and majority of the heavy lifting and actions were done by ambessa/noxus. Caitlyn was complicit and an accomplice but yall don't know how to read the media so it doesn't make a difference if she did the deeds or not. Because i promise there is a moral difference in ambessa approach and caitlyn's.

Yall don't ever discuss caitlyn's motivations in relation to her actions... yall can't even discuss her actions properly lol. It's always a lie and exaggerated and without context.

"Could she have been handled better" Sure why not, but i think, amongst most of the characters, caitlyn was one of the most well handled.

It's not the writers faults on this one but the ignorance and self righteous keyboard warriors. People ignoring the story right in front of them in exchange to make up shit. People who think they're morally superior or some kind of activist by painting caitlyn as something she's not. Writing off other characters and ignoring their actions and how they affect the story AND caitlyn.

*also it's hilarious how people only ever bring up the horrible things caitlyn did. They cannot examine her whole character and her whole character in relation to the narrative.

[darcyelain]

My biggest issue with gwyn isn’t even her character. It’s the fact that some gwyn stans (obv not all - some are really nice) are so misogynistic.

They make up so many headcanons about gwyn and how great she is - which would be fine if they didn’t have to degrade other female characters to do it. Apparently gwyn is going to be Nyx’s mommy because Feyre’s not a good parent. Gwyn is going to yell at Feyre for not properly taking care of her son and snatch her baby out of her hands and snap her fingers in her face while Feyre is crying - and everyone (including Rhys) will admire gwyn for knowing how to calm a screaming baby and Azriel will be so in love because gwyn is just so nurturing. And of course Rhys will be besties with Gwyn and will confide in her over his wife/mother of his child…

And apparently gwyn is going to yell at elain and feyre for being bad sisters - and Azriel will admire gwyn for that. Oh, and she’s also going to be mean to Mor for no reason at all….

Usually I wouldn’t even comment on it. Let people make up headcanons and write the fics they want to write. But it’s telling to me that people seem to pit gwyn against every single female character. Feyre’s a mother? She’s a bad mother - gwyn is nurturing and loving and will step into the role as mommy. Elain is pretty and feminine? Gwyn is much more beautiful and girly - but also knows how to fight so that makes her more interesting. Mor is a fighter? Gwyn is a better fighter.

You can like gwyn without tearing down other women.

Hi, anon!

I am totally in the same boat as you. I try to be as vocal about this as possible because misogyny in this fandom has been ignored and normalized. I have no issue with Gwyn as a character. I love Nesta, and I appreciate how Gwyn adds to Nesta's story and gives her a friendship that she never got to have before. In the actual canon, she's a good friend and an ambitious woman. I personally think Emerie is more interesting and has more potential, but both characters are generally likable and serve their purpose well.

I want to expand on what you said because I've also seen that before and it really is disgusting. I have no issue with anybody loving a side character. I myself am a total sucker for Tarquin, you do need to expand on these more one/two-dimensional characters a little bit by using headcanons. However they do not stay true to Gwyn in the slightest, instead they turn her into a mean girl who bosses everybody around, and lets face it: they make her into a Mary Sue and give her a savior and superiority complex.

The reason I think they do this is because of G*ynriel shippers. As we know, it is a self insert ship. So these people want to imagine themselves with Azriel. That means they will put their own personalities in place of hers. We have her lore and a bit of her as a character, but not a lot, so she is enough of a blank canvas for them to put their gross misogynistic and bully fantasies into their headcanons when in reality Gwyn would never treat another woman this way. That is why people write her attacking Mor and Elain specifically, it's jealousy which is so weird to me.

Their misogynistic fantasies don't even make sense. Why would Gwyn yell at Feyre, Mor or Elain? (I have seen people giggling about Gwyn physically hurting Elain too.) What reason would she have? And why would she be involved in the Archeron's sisters business? Just because she's Nesta's friend that doesn't give her the right to treat her sisters like the ground she walks on. Also making Feyre cry in front of Rhys is a death sentence. He is not gonna praise anybody for treating his mate like shit. Look at him with Nesta, he can't stand her because of her relationship with Feyre. Anybody who hurts Feyre is an enemy of his. You can really tell some people did not read the books because they don't even know how to write a proper Feysand.

This poor character, who quite literally did nothing wrong is used a misogynistic weapon (BY HER OWN FANS) in the fandom. And that is very sad to me. I personally think that she would love Elain, Feyre and Mor. So yes, I agree. They are allowed to like Gwyn, they're allowed to make headcanons and make her as strong as they want. They can do whatever they want, but they need to leave their misogynistic fantasies away from her and any ACOTAR character. Just take it out of the fandom.

Sorry if there's any typos, I have a really annoying muscle twitch rn.

[guiltreservoir]

i personally think eddie's decision to take kim on a date makes so much sense for his character. this is a heavily traumatized man who has not properly processed the grief of losing his wife and mother of his child. this is a man who has been seeking to recreate the fantasy family he'd built with christopher and shannon in his mind - even though shannon herself was ready to divorce him before she died. this is a man who wants nothing but a second chance, an opportunity to try again, to make it work, make it better.

and then he sees kim, and his good conscience is clouded by potential. she looks exactly like shannon. she laughs like shannon. she's quick-witted, charismatic, magnetic. she's absolutely gorgeous. she feels so easy and natural to talk to. she isn't shannon, she just feels like shannon - eddie doesn't even know her at all. but to him, she might as well be a carbon copy. she is someone that is so easy for him to project all of his wants and desires onto. she is someone who could be just like shannon, maybe, at least for now. eddie wants to find out for himself.

this is a decision eddie is making purely out of his own wishes, and he is not thinking about it clearly; he is being straight-up delusional. this is one of the first decisions we've ever really seen eddie make that is so blatantly self-serving and selfish, even more so than leaving for the army. this isn't a self-defense mechanism, this is a self-sabotage. some sort of fucked-up penance, or maybe a willing step into purgatory.

for maybe the first time in his life, eddie isn't thinking about anyone else. he esepcially isn't thinking about christopher - imagine what chris would think if he found out his dad's dating a dead ringer for his dead mom (let alone that it's on top of dating marisol)? even if eddie's somehow justifying it in his mind - maybe chris would be happy about it too - he knows this is a terrible choice and he's doing it anyway.

he is desperate to recreate what he thinks he could've had with shannon, he is very much hurting and still in deep mourning, and he is still not being honest with himself about what he truly wants or needs to be happy with himself. he's also realizing that whatever he wants, it probably isn't with marisol. but instead of breaking up with her, he's making the choice to complicate things for himself even further. it feels like some sort of subconscious self-flagellation. very ex-catholic of him.

it's so interesting that eddie is doing this without considering the true repercussions. he is blinded by the fact that he has a chance to date 'shannon' again and isn't thinking about literally anything else. it's going to cause suuuch a mess and i am so excited to watch how everything unfolds. i think eddie needs a bit of a reckoning to be able to get fully real with himself, and i really hope this is the first domino that tips to knock over his entire carefully-constructed illusions, the streak of sun that burns through the clouds in his mind so he can find some meaningful clarity.

[noir-fem]

daisy's thoughts on *that* scene

SPOILER WARNING!! I'M ABOUT TO YAP ABOUT HOTD SEASON TWO, SPECIFICALLY BLOOD AND CHEESE!!

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!

the scene itself

obviously, the show couldn't adapt B&C verbatim without traumatizing child actors in the process, so i'm happy that certain changes were made and that the actual murder happened off screen. i still think they could have kept small details that made it so horrific in the books without hurting child actors though.

the problem is mainly within the writing because there's really no build up. there's no scenes of Helaena being loving with her kids beforehand, no slaughtering of guards or bed maids to make Blood and Cheese look scarier, nothing that builds an impending sense of dread. also B&C being confused/low key cartoonish villains didn't help. these guys are supposed to know the Red Keep's secret pathways like the back of their hand; showing how intruders could get into the keep so easily definitely would have made the scene scarier.

also making B&C into a "misunderstanding " and having Aemond be the original target completely downplays the most evil thing the Blacks ever did and further shows that the writers are unashamedly biased towards the Blacks. the main message of the story is that both sides were war criminals who did awful things!! the senseless cruelty of targeting a toddler for something he had no role in was literally the point of B&C!!

i get that maelor doesn't exist yet, but they still could have done "a son for a son" and kept Helaena being forced to choose between her kids. one person on here suggested having her point to Jaehaera in order to spare Jaehaerys (the heir to the throne), but B&C killing Jaehaerys instead. i think something like that would have kept the psychological torture of having to choose and could still have been done without scaring child actors.

overall, if the writers were trying to out-do the Red Wedding in terms of horror, it didn't work. What made the Red Wedding so terrifying in the first place was the psychological aspects of it and all the tiny clues the audience was given beforehand, the small details telling the viewers that something bad is coming.

that being said, the show's adaptation of B&C still captured the horror of a child being murdered in front of his mother without showing it/being gratuitous. they did an amazing job with just letting you hear the sounds and leaving the rest to the imagination.

in conclusion: r.i.p. sweet baby jaehaerys. daemon targaryen, your days are numbered.

Helaena's reaction (or, rather, lack thereof)

i didn't properly understand/appreciate Helaena's reaction to B&C until i saw other people's takes and rewatched the scene for myself.

at first, i would have liked to see some sort of desperation like there was in the books (like Helaena begging and offering her life). HOWEVER, book!helaena and show!helaena are obviously gonna have some differences, especially with show!Helaena being a dreamer. and with her being coded as autistic/neurodivergent, her reaction makes total sense to something that i myself would do.

say it with me: there is no "right" or "wrong" way to react to trauma!! your brain is literally just doing whatever it has to do to get you out of that situation, and that looks different for everyone. a lot of people freeze or fawn! it doesn't mean that they're "emotionless" or unaffected by what's happening!!

now looking at it, Helaena's silent shock and horror were more gut wrenching to watch than any amount of screaming or begging imo. she's probably already seen this happen in her visions and knows that there's nothing she can do to stop it: all she can do is get herself and Jaehaera out of there. her resigned facial expression, her eyes, her quiet little pleas as she's carrying Jaehaera, her literally dissociating in order to get her and her daughter out of the situation and clinging onto her baby for dear life. Phia's acting was incredible and i believe she did her best with what the writers gave her.

now lastly....

the alicole scene

why???? just WHY????

look i'm all for alicent and criston being hypocrites and alicent finally getting to experience pleasure, but having helaena walk in on her and criston RIGHT after watching her son get brutally murdered.... i don't even need to say any more about this. nobody needs to explain why that is a bad writing choice.

my opinions on the show's take on B&C will likely change depending on how they handle helaena and alicent's reactions to it later on in the series. might even dabble in writing fics and drop my own take on this storyline sometimes hehe.

in conclusion, somebody PLEASE take Helaena's pain, quadruple it, and give it to daemon NOW.