#Don't even start me on the Messiah arc

[the-writer-is-always-write]

Thoughts on Dune: Part Two

General Impression: I adored this movie from start to finish. Having just rewatched Part One a week ago, it felt like a seamless transition hopping back into the story. The score, the set design, the costumes, all of it was impeccable.

Chani: her character arc was obviously the biggest deviation from the book, and although I felt a lot of surprise watching it unfold, I think some reflection has left me alright with it. I've admittedly only read Dune and Dune: Messiah, but both books are clearly meant to illustrate the dangers of religious fanaticism and the ways that religion and prophecy can be manipulated and utilized as a tool for oppression. While these ideas can (hopefully) be discerned fairly clearly by the reader, I think it makes sense to have an audible voice of dissent in a film adaptation, particularly from someone among the Fremen. The only concern I have is wondering how Denis will handle Dune: Messiah, since the plot sort of hinges on Paul and Chani being together. But I guess that's a worry for later.

MY BOY MUAD'DIB: Timothee is just so utterly perfect for this role, I genuinely could not imagine anyone else doing it with such grace and gravitas. Seeing the gradual spiral of innocent teenager to reluctant leader to religious icon was heart-wrenching. Paul has honestly become one of my favorite fictional characters because his story is so complex and layered with tragedy. He's simultaneously a product of manipulation and coercion, and an angry young man seeking revenge against those who have hurt him. He lacks agency in many ways, yet he still makes decisions that lead to so much destruction. He tries so so hard to avoid the holy war, but it becomes an inevitability he can't escape. Reading Dune: Messiah for the first time a few weeks ago really helped me to understand how the prophecy controlled him as much as he used it to control others. I could literally give a ted talk on this, and how it's such a fascinating take on the messiah figure trope.

Jessica: I saw an article recently where I think Denis called Jessica "the puppetmaster," and I think that's very fitting for her depiction in this movie. I like how it openly shows the manipulation tactics of the Bene Gesserit, particularly how they prey upon the "vulnerable" Fremen first. Rebecca did a fantastic job giving the creep factor.

Feyd-Rautha: I still don't know why Denis had a vendetta against Harkonnen eyebrows, but I guess it was cool? I LOVED the black and white lighting on Giedi Prime, and the arena scene was SO. GOOD. Denis really went for it. Feyd's accent caught me off guard a few times, but overall I think the ruthless and brutal nature of the character really shined through. He's the antithesis to Paul, and I think Denis captured that theme well enough.

I thought all the other characters were well done too. Stilgar was maybe a touch too comic relief-y at times, but nothing catastrophic. Gurney was great, but I would have liked at least one more baliset scene :(

Things we missed: I'm a little bummed we didn't get Harah. I know the movie was already pretty stuffed, but I honestly thought they could have used the actress that played Chani's friend (I can't remember if they ever mention her name). Even if the idea of Paul "acquiring" her was a little icky, they could have done something else with her character at least. I was also sad they didn't do the full funeral scene with Jamis, but oh well. I think the greater omission was Thufir Hawat, but again I can see why they chose to cut him. I just think the dynamic between the Baron and Feyd-Rautha had a lot more friction in the book, mostly because of Thufir conspiring them both against each other.

I'm honestly not upset we didn't get to see freaky-toddler Alia. I was excited for Anya though!

Overall, I really loved this film. No adaptation can get every detail perfect, but I can see the ways that Denis and the actors adored this story and wanted to tell it in a powerful way. I thought the themes stayed true to the book, and I'm really hopeful we get Part Three!

AND THE WORMS. THE WORMS WERE GREAT. LONG LIVE THE WORMS.

[nysocboy]

Gemstones Episode 2.9. Continued: A Perfect Christian, the Lion King, twinks, and lovers in old photographs

Previous:  Episode 2.9: Who killed Thaniel?  Will Keefe ever get a place at the table?  Can we see some Gemstone alums naked?

Keefe stands alone: Keefe sits next to Kelvin on the way to the Zion's Landing ground-breaking party.  He stands next to BJ while the siblings perform.  But afterwards, he goes off to make new friends: he tries to impress them by doing the Worm, and is upset when he fails.  

Why doesn't he interact with Kelvin, or anyone in the family?  It's as if they told him "You can come, but don't be seen with us.  We don't want people thinking that you and Kelvin are together." 

Baby Billy Returns: As Tiffany sits in a cabana, Baby Billy appears!  He tells her "I'm back for good,"  Judy isn't having it "You've got a lot of nerve coming here after what you did!" 

He ignores Judy and asks Tiffany to take him back.  She refuses to answer, saying that she has to go to the bathroom.

Keefe and the Perfect Christian: Meanwhile, Keefe and Joe Jonas, the world's most perfect Christian, head to the same porta-potty.  They are so busy gazing at the guy who just exited that they both reach for the handle at the same time, and clasp hands.  It is accidental, but still a strangely erotic moment.  

Tiffany pushes them aside and rushes into the porta-potty.  Joe Jonas and Keefe continue to flirt as she goes into labor.   Don't they, like, have to go?

The Lion King: Later, a crowd has gathered around the porta-potty.  Didn't anyone fetch a doctor? 

Baby Billy rushes up and asks Keefe, Pontius, and Abraham if they've seen Tiffany.  They point. She said she was going to the bathroom, you dolt! Why did it take you so long to figure it out?

Tiffany emerges, stating that she had her baby: it fell into the toilet.Gross callback to the "toilet baby" discussion.  Baby Billy reaches down and pulls the baby out.  Then, in a scene reflecting Simba's birth in The Lion King, he holds it over his head for the crowd to see.  Everyone applauds. 

Lyle's Revenge: On the beach, Jesse, still unaware of Lyle's involvement, is handing over the investment money.  Suddenly a woman appears, yelling at Lyle about the disappearance of her husband: "He was working with you, to get information on the Butterfields!  He told me all about it!"  

Finally Jesse starts to figure it out.  He confronts Lyle, who admits to sending the Cycle Ninjas to kill Eli --  he thought he was "doing you a solid," freeing up some money so Jesse could invest.  Besides, hasn't he often wished that his father would hurry up and die?  No, of course not.  But, now, worried that he might tell, Lyle attacks. They fight, and Jesse hits and kills him with a rock from the David and Goliath slingshot he used to threaten Junior. 

He rushes to his family -- um, hang on for a moment. Check out Kelvin's ultra-femme outfit and mannerisms.  He's really come out loud and proud.  He was the macho Messiah of the Musclemen an episode ago, and now he's my Aunt Sadie. 

And why isn't Keefe there?  He's at the porta-potties, of course, but there isn't even a chair that he vacated.

Jesse announces that he's murdered someone.  The family follows him to the beach, but Lyle is alive, and Lindsey is armed!  She shoots BJ in the femoral artery, and forces the others to swim out into the ocean.  BJ will bleed out in 2-4 minutes unless he gets first aid.  He's doomed!

Lots of Reconciliations: One month later, we see Chad and his wife reconciling at Amber's marital group. I didn't even know that was a plot arc.   

Then Judy and BJ, who has miraculously recovered, say goodbye to Baby Billy, Tiffany, and baby Lionel as they head home. 

Nobody ain't inviting no kids to the steam showers:   Kelvin and Keefe  have started a Youth Squad for 12-15 year olds. "The whole time we've been searching for our calling," Kelvin says, "It's been right under our noses: these beautiful, innocent children."

He continues, evoking a Judean retreat: "We could groom these kids into the next generation of muscle men."  Keefe suddenly realizes that people could get the wrong idea, and suggests getting chaperones and permission slips.But Kelvin isn't ready to start planning yet; he's just brainstorming, thinking of the possibilities.  

I read fan responses to this scene before actually watching it: anger, disgust, and dismay: "Please don't let them be creeps.  Please don't let them be creeps.  Please don't let them be creeps."  The "They're straight buddies" camp was ecstatic, because who would give gay characters lines like that?  When I watched, I was upset by the structure: everyone else gets a heartfelt scene, and the guys get pedophile jokes. But one fan who grew up a queer kid in an Evangelical church set me straight, so to speak.  I paraphrase a bit:

This IS a touching scene!  Friggin' homophobe, thinking that because the guys are gay, they must like little boys!  

The kids are not dressed in revealing outfits, and at least one of them is a girl!  Kelvin and Keefe  do not say one single thing that suggest an erotic interest in the "little angels."  Keefe notes that a particularly muscular boy is popular with other boys, and Kelvin fiddles with his "wedding ring," to let you know that he and Keefe are partners. 

The Youth Squad is a perfectly legitimate way for them to combine their interests in youth ministry and physical fitness.  Note that the kids are not training for bodybuilding, which is not permitted for anyone under age 15.  They are doing strength training exercises, which are recommended for children aged seven and up.   

Plus it makes structural sense.  The heterosexist trajectory includes job, house, wife, and kids.  Baby Billy does not become a man until he holds his infant son.  BJ and Judy have no children of their own, so they adopt Tiffany. Nurturing children is the final step in Kelvin's movement into manhood

Lovers in old photographs:  Eli returns to Memphis, where he is funding Junior's new wrestling studio.  Arm on Eli's back, Junior shows him around: "Stadium seating...just need some asses to fill  'em."  

They pause before an old black-and-white photo of Glendon Marsh and his wrestling crew.  Young Eli, the Marauder Kid, stands masked in the back row, next to Young Junior.  The camera closes in on the two.  Eli smiles. The end.

Bonus: Naked twinks, in case you're having trouble figuring out the difference between being gay and that other thing.  

The full review, with naked twinks and more about Eli and Junior, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

[class1akids]

Do you hate (or dislike) BakuDeku? And no, I absolutely not a shipper, It's just that it's not the first time I've seen you pissed off about this. Some bkdk material in canon (or whatever it is), and then the typical trend to ignore Shouto and left the class behind once again.

And I totally understand you do. Because we keep seeing they insist on relegating Shouto when the main focus is on 'The Untouchable Duo' and it seems this will never change, nobody cares either (well at least I'm glad Shouto doesn't need to rely on anyone to shine by his own). I feel like this is just to satisfy the bkdk fans hunger maybe (most prob) rather than something intentional per se. Or idk, but. Hasn't this been going on for a while??? This same thing. Like, bkdk as the center of BNHA. Over and over and over again? Sadly that's how it has always been, it's as if nothing else matters at times if not the mostly.

I don't hate bkdk as a ship (though there are a lot of types of takes on it I dislike, so I rarely engage in the fanfics) and I do like it as a platonic dynamic a lot. Well, I used to like it a lot more in the past - I haven't been a fan of what happened since post-war.

Bakugou's apology was great, but him not getting any independent plot points after the war, I feel, really hurt his character. To me, he was more enjoyable before with his own motivation, social circle, field of influence. I think he would have immensely benefited from a solo fight exploring his growth a bit better. Now, he's been just wrapped up into Deku's plot, and it really sucks. His fight started out on the good notes for him, but I hated how when he got up after a severe beating and analysed Shigaraki was made to be about Deku, as if being someone who never gives up and being someone who is tactically smart haven't been core Bakugou characteristics since Day 1.

Also, while I enjoy(ed) bkdk as a dynamic, I have really grown to dislike Deku's arc. Again, not Deku as a person - some fanfic Dekus are still very dear to me - but this Messiah-MC-who-can-do-no-wrong and gets spoon-fed victories is just not it for me and I actively hate to see others brought down to elevate Deku.

As for my rant - what set me off was an art by TUM mangaka where she featured Endeavor with BKDK helping build a dam and Shouto was missing. I can understand putting BKDK and their relationship into the focus and have no problem with it, but when it's obviously an Endeavor internship reference, then I don't understand why Shouto is not there and I don't think there is an excuse to leave him off.

I'm also generally feeling increasingly salty about TUM and the amount of BKDK chapters in it vs how Shouto is barely visible. He only had a somewhat visible role in 3 chapters out of the 24, and not a single time has been teamed up with an actual pro-hero. There have been no TDDK chapters at all yet (even though everyone and their mother had team-ups with Deku by now), and only one featuring both Shouto and Bakugou (along with Kirishima and Camie), despite the ship-bait at the start.

Even when chapters focus on Dekusquad people - Shouto is just left out, while Bakugou is put in. (Both the recent Iida-focused and the Ochako-focused chapters had Bakugou but no Shouto). I do like Bakugou, but I don't like it when it's so obviously at the expense of Shouto-content.

So I'm really starting to question if Akiyama Yoco hates Shouto, and as a Shouto-fan, it makes it very hard for me to enjoy the rest of her work. While I purchased the first 2 volumes of TUM, I'm not putting any more money into a spin-off that is so blatantly anti-Shouto and ignores his fanbase to this level.

As for the canon, I'm actually mostly happy about Shouto doing his own thing with Dabi. I do like the Todoroki-family plot a lot - it's the only thing that is interesting for me in the manga at this point, and I'm excited about all the Shouto-Touya interactions. They are new, they are fun, there are a lot of emotional resonance with me.

So as long as we don't get Deku blitz in there to "fix" everything and Shouto is allowed to fulfil his arc, I'm ok with it.

I do hope though that Shouto will get a moment to also step up as a hero for the public, to deliver on the "reassuring hero" part of his arc and I wouldn't mind if in the end, he'd be still there with Bakugou and Deku. But as long as his arc gets a satisfying conclusion, I'll be fine.

[littlemaggpie]

i made a somewhat popular post featuring a steven universe character and the thing is that it has themes of christianity cuz it was a joke and i realised i accidently posted it during easter cuz for us easter is next week or something happy accidental easter to everyone else 😭

Well the interesting thing is that by going off by the all the events and symbolism of the show, it's technically implied that Steven Universe is the Messiah. Or the second one, if you were to suggest Jesus of Nazareth also lived during the same timeline. Besides the already parallels drawn between their personalities (selfless, kind, hopeful), them being conceived by a divine being and a mortal, and their abilities to heal, Steven also borrows a large amount of patterns from Jesus' own arc: forming long lasting friendships with people after saving them and having them turn into their disciples (ex: Connie in "Bubble Buddies"; she could be considered a disciple metaphorically- Mary Magdalene in Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9), curing people of blindness (Connie in "An indirect kiss" - The healing of the blind man in John 9:1-11), fleeding from their caregivers and proving to know an impressive amount of knowledge about the divine at a young age, while at the same time often leaving said caretakers in confusion or disbelief (Steven during "Rose's Scabard", "Mirror Gem" & "Warp Tour", 12 year old Jesus in Luke 2:41-52), being disrespectful towards authority (the vast majority of Homeworld episodes with Steven in them - Jesus in Matthew 21:12-13, John 2:15 and Mark 11:15), performing miracles on the sick and poor (or "corrupted" in Steven's case, and dying before a handful of his disciples and ressurecting right in front of one of his dearest disciples/friends. And don't even get me started with the "Three Gems and a baby" episode...

[sage-nebula]

Do you not like Ash anymore? I'm not happy with how the series treated him but I still like him as a character I've loved the whole series. I feel like that's not the case with you though?

It's not that I dislike Ash, it's just that I don't care about him at all and in fact find him extraordinarily and fundamentally boring.

Look, if we're talking about the Ash Ketchum from the original series—and even AG and DP, to be quite honest—then yeah, I still really like that character and find him entertaining and endearing. He was a sassy dumbass who routinely made mistakes and let his temper and ego get the best of him, but really loved and cared about his pokémon and his friends and, over time, learned from his mistakes and grew as a trainer. If we look at Ash as having a character arc that started in the original series, then that arc would have ended with the culmination of DP, wherein he'd learned the lessons that he needed to learn and had reached a height in his training career, even if the title of "Pokémon Master" (which we all know doesn't actually exist and means absolutely nothing) wasn't bestowed upon him.

But the problem—and I feel like I've made a post on this before—is that Ash's story wasn't allowed to conclude with DP. It actually hasn't been allowed to conclude at all and probably never will. A "soft reset" was done in BW where although they kept Ash's history in tact, they reset a lot of his experienced, dialed back maturity that he'd gained, and so on and so forth so that they could have him re-learn a lot of the lessons that he'd learned before and give him room to grow, albeit by retreading the same ground. And that's boring. BW has its strengths in other characters (most notably Iris), but when you have to rewind character development to have story to tell, you have a problem. And the problem didn't end there.

The writers of the anime have this going for them: they listen to feedback from the audience and adjust to try to make the audience happy. So when people didn't like how the TRio suddenly gained a ton of competence so that they, too, could have a story to tell (because they are just as boring and tired as Ash is at this point) and everyone got mad that they weren't the Ha Ha Funnymen anymore, they regressed back to their previous personalities. And when people were mad that Ash was reset, they decided to make him much more battle-focused in XY. But this change in direction came with another issue: now Ash's personality was watered down to Red Lite. He was a Super Strong Trainer That Everyone, Yes Everyone, Idolized. And while we can make up internal conflict for him in that he can't really have fun with battles anymore because everyone has all these expectations on him, a.) that's people like me trying to make this story interesting, and b.) that still doesn't change how farfetched it is that characters like Lysandre would have any interest in him at all, because seriously, the whole "messiah" thing was shoehorned in at the last minute because the Flare crisis had absolutely nothing to do with Ash at all and everyone knew it. They just had to have an excuse to put him at the scene. The Flare crisis was the best part of XYZ but we all know that part was pretty bogus.

Anyway, they still wouldn't retire Ash after XYZ because retiring him means retiring Pikachu and his specific Pikachu is the mascot of the franchise, so they needed another angle since, funnily enough, kids really weren't into the more serious plots of XYZ and were instead into more slice-of-life anime like Yo-Kai Watch. Enter SM, where he had his maturity dialed back again (but without making him the brat he was in the original series because giving him flaws nowadays is a big No No) . . . but kept the battle expertise that made everyone gush and fawn all over him (and he also got to steal Nebby from Lillie, got to have a Super Special Lycanroc, etc). Losses for Ash were rare and when they did happen he bounced back pretty quickly. He even won a League for the second time! Although everyone treated it like his first because the Orange Islands was looked down upon because it didn't feature in the games, even though the Orange League was tbh more impressive than Professor Kukui's Backyard BBQ League that anyone could participate in with no qualifications. But you know, he won! He had a trophy and accolades. So the people who project onto him and live vicariously through this perpetual ten-year-old were happy.

But still, they can't retire him without retiring Pikachu, so we got Journeys. Journeys, in which he's basically the same as SM, in that he is hyperactive but has no real flaws and is a pro at battling. In fact he is such a pro at battling that he doesn't even have to spend any real time training his pokémon. His Dragonite evolved before he caught it. His Gengar was already fully evolved when he caught it. He did raise Lucario from an egg, but he also has Special Magic Aura Powers that help him unlock Lucario's potential and mega evolution without any real struggles there. He has a super powerful ace team basically handed to him, and the few times when he does do something uncool (such as scolding Pikachu for being bored while he spent all his time training Riolu / Lucario), it's not a big deal and not treated as something that he really needs to learn to grow and overcome as a character arc. And why would it? Ash can't have a character arc. No, he literally cannot have one, because character arcs have to have an ending point in order to complete the arc and Ash's story can never end. He can't have personality flaws because he can't grow from them because that would end an arc he's not allowed to have. He can't struggle with and lose battles at any point ever because that would make the grown-ass adults who live vicariously through him (a.k.a. Ash Stans™) upset. He can't have other characters who dislike him, because again, that makes the Ash Stans™ upset because everyone has to gush over Ash and think he is the most wonderful character at all times. He has to have the best of everything, and he can't lose battles, and he can't have real flaws and he is boring as fuck.

Here's the thing: Characters who aren't allowed to develop aren't really characters. Ash has always been an audience surrogate in the sense that he's a child whom the child-aged audience uses as a vessel to be introduced to the world of Pokémon. But originally, before the series grew into the giant it is today and they didn't know that it was going to go on for infinity, Ash was allowed to be the audience surrogate and also a character. Ash was inexperienced, he was rude, he was a sore loser, he was cocky, and he had a hot temper. He was also incredibly loving toward pokémon, friendly, brave, and energetic. He wasn't the best character ever written because his ultimate goal was nonsense and all he really wanted was accolades for the sake of accolades, but he was still fun to watch because he was allowed to screw up and learn and grow. Yes, it is stupid to try to punch a legendary pokémon that has psychic powers even once, let alone twice, but watching him try to punch Mewtwo multiple times because he was a pissed off dumbass is still so much more interesting than the writers having to tiptoe around making him less than perfect.

Ash is boring. I don't care about him. Any flaws he has are superficial because to give him real flaws would require him to be able to grow, and he can't do that because he has to stay on the show forever. His companions can—Gou has grown a lot since Journeys started, because he can grow, because he gets to complete his arc and leave the show. But Ash can't, because he'll be around forever. And because he can't have losses, because there can't be any real stakes for him, the Masters 8 has been completely boring as well. We know that he's going to battle Leon because that's been set up since episode 13. Which means there were absolutely zero stakes for his battle with Steven, and there are absolutely zero stakes for his battle with Cynthia. It's a foregone conclusion. He's going to win. This isn't like the earlier leagues where we hoped Ash would make it but there was no certainty. We know that he'll make it now. The only question is whether he'll beat Leon or not, and I'm betting he will because he has to be The Best because the anime team doesn't want a repeat of the Kalos League Bitchfest, but who knows how they'll justify keeping him around after that. I mean, undoubtedly they'll find a way, but it's a question of how.

Anyway, all of this is to say that Ash is boring. I don't dislike him, because that would require caring about him enough to dislike him, and I don't. I don't care about him at all, and the same goes for Team Rocket. In fact, if the series ended with Ash and the TRio getting hit by a gigantamax bus, my reaction would probably be:

[lordofhunger47]

My top criticisms about Gravity Falls(this is not a hate message, I consider GF as a masterpiece although a flawed one and later I'm going to post about My top things I love about GF so please be civil)

1-Wendy Corduroy's complete lack of development:as much as I like wendy it is no denying she is underulitized,seriously they made us care for a supporting character,a mean girl cliche' in ONE episode,made her more than a blonde stereotype and made us actually care about her but couldn't done that to our badass red head who is one of the main cast with TONS of potential to grow like family issues,teenage rebellion,gluttony in work and having a bad taste in boys... to be more than a princess unattainable who makes teens around her to drool?!,Beside once you make it clear that she isn't going to end up with Dipper, that's pretty much it for the character. Too much of her characterization is built around being Dipper's idealized LI, and she not really relevant to the main plotline,Being super cool and talented isn't very interesting on its own(ask rey from sequel trilogy or ultrasmufs from WH40k, even alex said she was "too perfect" thus why there are so many unaired episodes centre around her which makes me sad for never airing)

2-Everything about Love God and Roadside Attraction:in Love God mabel didn't face her consequences,didn't learn any and worse Robbie got rewared for his ill-manner and insecurities and never even acknowldge his wrong doing toward Wendy and Dipper(hence why I love reading fanfics about robbie having his come uppence).

As for roadside attraction?giving Dipper The Last Jedi treatment of Luke Skywalker and making hypocrites out of Mabel and the girls since they LITERALLY condemned Dipper for the same thing they do on a DAILY BASIC ,beside they were the ones who pushed the whole "candip" thing.

3-using Ford as a scapegoat:I know he is faulty but lets not forget Stan also share the blame,sure he didn't mean to destroy Ford's project but he didn't told him in order to fix it either because he secretly hope that his accident would make Ford stay,he was petty in weirdmaggedon and while Ford is arrogant with messiah complex, Stan is implusive with victim complex and at least Ford TRIES to take responsibilty while Stan only did take responsibility when he tries to keep Mabel and Dipper out of this by FAVORITISM and HUMILIATION the fact that he do so after his father the water downed-american-ozai wannable only makes it worse(lets be honest if Dipper was gay,bi or trans everyone in media would scream for blood after seeing Dipper vs Manliness).

Besides,how would you feel if one of your relatives steal your identity,ruin your name and make a mockery out of your life's work??sure he was trying to have enough money to return you but what part of "stealing your name and mock your job" was necessary!?even a simple merch shop makes as much money as a tourist trap

4-Double Standard toward Dipper:I get that his character arc pretty much amounts to: "Stop being a pretentious twit, stop trying to act older than you are, enjoy being a kid while you can." The problem is that the show eventually starts beating on Dipper for wanting ANYTHING at all, and that he must always put Mabel first, even if she's in the wrong. The show seems to say that Dipper should take Mabel's approach to life, and although that might make him happier, he's just not Mabel. Instead of learning to pursue his goals in a less reckless way, he is dis-alluded from having goals period, and that can get frustrating to watch,I don't have a sibiling but I do know that pleasing one in sacrifice of your dreams and everything that makes you you is NOT how healthy relationships works in fact it is toxic

5-Handling ships:take the owl house،the dragon prince,adventure time and kipo age of the wonderbeast for example and compare it to gravity falls.

Unlike GF they didn't reduce love interests as stereotypical,they didn't made a bigger deal about crushes than it needs to be,didn't fell for tropes and take time,for instance if you think about it lumity and dipacifica are basically alike except lumity took time,develop,didn't came out of nowhere in one episode and didn't fell for "I hate you but now I love you despite the major differences" cliché trope.

By the way,the whole age gap excuse for Wendy rejecting Dipper is stupidly lame because lets be honest when a 2/5 year age gape ever stopped anyone?!(certainly didn't stopped kataang,gideon from dating mabel and my parents) if she instead said because of dipper being underage or simply just ANYTHING other than age gape then I would get behind it and also Am I the only one who found incredibly hypocrite how much the series trashed Dipper's feelings for Wendy using the excuse of "it's imposible, he has no future with her because she's 2-3 years older than him", but then the same series supported Mabel's crazy crushes that she honestly had no future either? I mean, is the series and the narrative seriously making watchers and fans believe that Mabel had more future with a bunch of gnomes, a zombie, a vampire, a psycho child(who is 3 years younger), a merman, a puppeteer creep(who is in his 20s!), a cloned boy band(who are in their 20s AGAIN biologically but technically only months old!), any stranger she stalked within her radar each week, and a dollar bill guy, than Dipper with Wendy? Like, she has MORE future with any of those crazy creatures than Dipper has with Wendy, a girl she is very close to and who is only 2 and a half years older? or the fact that Wendy dated a guy with tattoos who is probably 3 years older than her?!

Honestly, I find ironic that the series ditched Dipper's relationship with Wendy because, according to the narrative, it wouldn't matter or last in the long run only for a 2-3 year old gap, but then goes to support even crazier crushes that are changed in a week, because looking through it, out of all the crushes we've seen the kids have, the one who actually can have a future is the one that the series constantly ditches and mocks at.

Before any missunderstooding of what I tried to say: I'm not saying Mabel's crushes didn't end up backfiring, of course they did, it was obvious that would happen sooner or later. What I'm trying to say is that in most episodes they put Mabel's random crushes above Dipper's crush over Wendy with the excuse of "Dipper having no chances nor future with Wendy", as if Mabel had ANY future or chances with any of those crushes at all or as if any of those crushes were any more reallistic than Dipper's crush over Wendy. The thing is, even if Mabel's crushes ended up falling appart, in the end, Mabel got to give it a try with her crushes at the cost of Dipper sacrificing his time with Wendy, therefore pushing Mabel's crushes above Dipper's.

That is what I'm criticizing here: the fact that the narrative puts Mabel's crushes constantly over Dipper's crush using the "they have no future or chances" excuse while also pointedly ignoring that Mabel's crushes had even less chances and future than Dipper's. In fact, Dipper's crush with Wendy has more future than Mabel's, because the only obstacle in here is just a 2 and a half year old gap that in a couple of years won't matter at all, so if these two end up having feelings to each other in the future, it can totally work out.

7-Mabel's bad writting:now now I don't hate Mabel(the only characters in GF that I genuienly hate are Robbie and Pacifica's parents) and I oppose the idea that Mabel should be completely miserable like a CERTAIN AU,but there is no denying that her character suffers lack of change,all her antics is played for laughs only,unlike other characters she never face her consequences and she learns the same repeative lesson and yet never learns(I'm aware of Lost Legends but thats a comic not part of the show so it doesn't change this fatal flaw in the show and even if it was an episode it would still be repeative and only be in "words" not "action" Saying admitting is equal to her redeeming herself and completely grow out of it is like saying a smoker only has to say that smocking is bad and it's all done otherwise we have a narration disaster like everything about Star Wars's Sequel Trilogy).

for me the problem isn't that she caused Weirdmaggedon, is that, after what she accidentally caused through clear bad actions, she absolutely didn't care about it and did nothing to solve it until she got what she wanted. THAT is what makes her responsible for it. You're not to blame for being lied and tricked, but if once you do reallize what you did wrong you shrug it off and you don't care, then THAT makes you to blame for ignoring your responsabilities. And yes, I know Mabel is 12...but so is Dipper, yet the show doesn't hesitate to force him to be more mature than his two grunkles combined, but Mabel gets spared for being the funny immature one and be nothing more than a manic pixie stereotype(hence why this days characters which follow this trope either subverted or written diffrently than their predecessors like Jinx,Molly,Luz and Marcy), when both of them are co-protagonists.

[battlestar-royco]

I haven't read the books yet so I'm a big newbie when it comes to the Dune story, but I've managed to pick up on *some* info regarding the world building from wiki pages and yeah, regarding the character arcs I feel like the movie cut off way too much than what it could've had regarding the characters. Oddly enough the most moving part for me aside from the Duke's death and how even in the catatonic state he was in, mourned his family, was Paul's visions moment. I still don't know how I'll get around to feeling about his character later on (I do know that you're not supposed to think he's a hero or is right at all), but I feel like *that* moment established how what's to come for him will not be good in the slightest. I feel like they could've easily made it more positive or less ominous if they wanted to, and it would've helped to establish him as an actual savior (though obviously a white one) if they wanted that, but the music and his obvious distress over it just made it clear that what the potential future for him will be is /not good/. And granted, I don't want to excuse him by saying "well this is what he's meant to do" because frankly he could've allowed himself to die in his battle with Jamis! Like if you know that so many of the visions you get are not good then maybe it IS better for you to go! But nope, he doesn't.

I am sad to hear that Jessica and the Duke's emotional bond and trust was a more watered down version of the book because the concept sounds really intriguing. Because technically she IS supposed to be manipulating him from the start by making sure that she has his child for future political treaties through a marriage and she has to give him a daughter for this, but ends up giving him a son because she loves him? Whereas in the movie I feel like the mother superior telling her "you're so proud of yourself you think you could bring the holy messiah to earth" kind of made it look like she did it more for herself than because she loved Duke so much that she was willing to "betray" her superior and her teachings for this. Idk how Jessica will handle the role Paul will get later on I guess but what I could see from the movie is that she def loves him as her kid, and not just as this actual supposed superior being. I kind of wish we just got more scenes between Paul and the Duke because I feel like that relationship lacked more emotional depth and nuance? In comparison to Paul and Jessica as son and mother, but idk if they're just more distant in the books so this is how it's supposed to be. Regarding the other characters I VERY much agree with Yueh's betrayal feeling lackluster. Idk how it is in the book but his role felt kind of subpar that when it happened, while the overthrowing was grandiose on a cinematic scale, on a personal one, it wasn't as good? Like he just seemed a more distant character from the family members and the fact that he did it because he wanted to save his wife isn't really shown enough for an audience member to feel for his character more. He's essentially trapped and he did it because it was either his wife or this family but like....it all happens so suddenly that by the time he's dead you're kind of 😐 about it.

This ask is too damn long and I'm sorry, but yeah my basic 2 cents as a newbie.

Okay I love the energy of this long ass ask.

I wasn't totally feeling Paul's vision--except for the shot of him and Chani above Caladan (so ominous)--but I'm glad it worked for you! I think they could've done more to make Paul's trajectory more clearly evil if that was what they were going for, but it did feel ambiguous. I didn't get a triumphant/heroic impression of the Atreides, especially not from the Fremen. Personally, Leto's singular tear really did me in.

Jessica and Leto's relationship in the book was a major emotional anchor for me, so I too was disappointed by their depiction. Removing the "traitor in the house" plot also removed the implicit, deep trust Jessica, Paul, and Leto had in each other and their allies despite all the other fuckery they get into. There was so much more going on between just Jessica and Leto, let alone how they delegate their people. The movie didn't impress upon us how coveted, talented, and integral Bene Gesserit are to the galaxy, which in turn definitely impacted Jessica's relationships and the way she drove the plot. I die for complex marriages whose conflict doesn't come from infidelity or abuse. Also women with powers and dark agendas.

[syubub]

SOULMATE READING- TAEHYUNG

First of all, sorry about the pic. Second is the disclaimer. This is a tarot reading meant for entertainment only. Thirdly, I decided to do each member as an individual post bc I think it's less hassle that way 💕

Okay

Okay. So. Wow.

I don't know where to start with Tae. His soulmate and him have the most ideal relationship. The cards for the relationship aspect is 100% soulmate vibes. I mean come on, the 2 of cups (soulmate card), 4 of wands (marriage) and the lovers all right next to eachother? Hot damn. They definitely travel together a lot and his Soul Bae might be a good entrepreneur? Idk but they are both financially set.

I think we should start with physical attributes first. I have a strong feeling that they will be naturally blonde or have blonde hair at the time they meet. The color yellow is also important (Taes energy is very yellowish gold to me. Coincidence?). I also get the sense that this is an old soul. May be older than Tae but definitely an old soul. A youthful face. Sort of fun yet intimidating look to them. They might have sharp features (specifically eyes which could be a grayish brown? Possibly even have heterochromia? Might have light freckles. Puts effort into the way they look but also just wakes up looking flawless. Might be from abroad. His soulmate might be very interested in France, have a very French aesthetic or lived in France. His soulmate is very much like him. Relatively tall? Modelish but unconventional, like kinda built, lanky, boxy. Strong legs. Wavy hair? Idk. A balance of masculine and feminine traits. The type to enjoy being fancy but also super down to play video games and can definitely out drink Tae. Definitely. Looks good in sweats lol.

onto how/where they'll meet. It might be when he is alone at a museum in France standing in front of a statue of Venus (It popped into my head and i couldn't not write it down) or perhaps when one party is traveling and they meet on a hike or in nature or something like that. Possibly even at a work function. As for when they meet. It is up to both parties to decide to come into union spiritually. If that makes sense? They both will be drawn to eachother when the time is right for them.

Onto this person's personality. Earthy influences. Romantic!!! Romantic. So romantic. Their love language is words of affirmation. This person is very chivalrous? Idk like this person is very gentlemanly? Like, they want to take care of tae and will open doors for him and stuff. Makes him chocolate covered strawberries. Also very intune to ~otherworldly~ things. Lowkey a psychic. Idk why but this person it like guided by Taes guides sometimes? Like, they'll just pop in. And like, when it's time for them to meet, Tae grandma will give him every fucking sign to be like, "THIS ONE!! THIS IS YOUR SOULMATE, KID!" (Also, topic for a different day but i have a mad feeling that Tae communicates with the dead, specifically his grandma, and that's why he trust/ relies on his "angels" so much.) I don't want to be insensitive or step on toes or anything but like Taes grandma probably communicates with Taes soulmate too? And like, I keep getting an image of Tae and his soulmate sharing dreams? Idk it's a lot. And I think I've said it before but Taes soulmate is... massive... like, energy wise. Theres almost like an archaic, out of this world feeling to this person and they have to be spiritual or imma shout. Like, this person. Is. Crazy. Idk what's up but it's almost like there's a wall? Like, I'm not privy to it because my small little fragile conciousness would shatter in its presence? Maybe a bit dramatic but there is a lot behind this person and their union with Tae. This person has been through a lot and might be closing an old chapter in their life when Tae comes in. This person might feel lost? Like, they have such massive energy but human life is stupid and confusing and they dont know how to channel energy into productivity? Might also fear abandonment and commitment so they have a hard time really connecting with people because they get attached easily and are afraid to lose them. An empath? Very creative and able to manifest pretty much anything. For archetype cards, I got: artist, shape-shifter, knight, messiah. Very very creative and can probably draw in experience from different levels of conciousness? Like this person is an artsy, spiritual Joan of Arc.

So. Cards about their situation are Soul Family and Inner Temple. Essentially they both need to awaken and call eachother in. They need to fully be themselves and just exist!

Cards to Tae from his Soul Bae: progress, not perfection, answered prayers, unconventionality, big bold vision, beyond the mind the heart beats, sacred fool.

Okay. His Soulmate is a funny one, I'll get to that soon, but also very genuine. Like this person wants to see him grow and Express full potential. Bae wants him to stop caring what others think and be weird! Theres stuff he doesn't talk about with other people (perhaps the fact that hes way more spiritually intune than most. Not by choice either though. He was born with this shit. He probably saw faeries as a kid and shit) Bae wants him to settle back and listen to his inner self and nurture what's already there. This is a line from the description of sacred fool, "Don't try to be appropriate, don't try to be socially acceptable and worry about what others may think about what you are doing-just be. If you want to wear a mad hat whilst doing so, fine." Bae wants him to have fun and do whatever the fuck he wants to do because Tae being happy is what's important. Like, if Tae went and bought a literal circus and was like, "this is my dream, its who I am" Bae would be like, "...are you sure?" And if he was sure, then his soulmate would double check everything, make sure hes safe and dive in head first with him. It's very supportive but also his soulmate is practical. Like, his soulmate wouldn't willingly let him do anything that would directly harm him or ruin his life, you know? This is his guardian angel. His love. His tried and true. One and only. It's ridiculous and they will have kids and a farm. Fight me on that.

I wanted to channel a message from his soulmate to him and I got a laugh, something about "our four leaf clover" "He needs a haircut" and, "Tell him he's dense but I'll love him forever in this life and the next. Forever."

Then I thought, well, Jimin is definitely Taes platonic soulmate so like Taes Bae and Chim have to get along and I got the cutest image of Tae, Taes Bae, Jimin and Jimins soulmate all sitting together in a garden drinking tea and laughing and all of their guides are watching them with smiles and the rest of Bangtan and their soulmates come into the garden with their soulmates and it's a cute Soul-party and now I'm super soft.

Theres so much to say about this soulmate union and really even just his soulmate because it's such a powerful energy and I think someday I want to do a part 2 for this because I have lots of questions. I feel like these two can have any sort of life together. Like they both hold the pen and are constantly writing and revising their life scripts. Also, I get the feeling that his soulmate is...hmm.. they give me the feeling that they might not exist? Like they do but at the same time they don't? Or maybe they're just like, deep. Like an onion. I'll put a pin in this for another time but it gives me a deep indigo type of feeling, you know? It's a whole thing. I'll do a part 2 for this.

Last comment. Taes Soul bae has great eyebrows? Idk why but that's a thing apparently.

TLDR

Tae has a fantastic soulmate who is impressively cool, they have the cutest life together and they are definitely going to live the cutest domestic life ever? Also, Tae probably wants to have 6 kids so each kid can have a designated Bangtan Godfather lol. Think artsy-museum-farmer-millionaires who have a house made of Gucci and matching rocking chairs.

Cute cute cute. Like I said, I'll expand on this later! Also, I apologize if it isn't very cohesive or doesn't make a lot of sense. I've been busy and my life is a little messy but I wanted to get this out!

Stay safe💜

[ginjointsintheworld]

Huhu,

Has this season been interesting for you compared to last season? Or even the last 3 seasons? Not for me. I can't seem to really put my finger on it.. The Veronica storyline certainly is part of why it's just been exhausting amongst other things. Max and Helen seemed to be more interesting when they weren't officially a couple,but now... Bleh. Especially Helen outside of Max.

I honestly had it with Max's white savior complex/messiah complex in season 3. And it got to the point of unrealistic because surly which Medical director in the world is constantly trying to solve issues like that.? The worst I think was him thinking he could end racism. Don't get me started on the global warming issue. The vaccine one was... *Deep spiritual sigh*

I don't just say this as Leyren fan (or maybe I'm a bit biased. Yes I am with my whole chest lol), they are pretty much the ones carrying this season on their backs. I mean look at the material : Jeanie's Endometriosis episode(Helen's history in that episode was good) , the 2 hilarious old guys and Bloom and then maybe last episode. These 3 and all Lauren and Leyla scenes. That's it.

And a certain fandom think they are the next best thing after sliced bread. I have to laugh.

(have a good week Gin :))

hmmm so far i'd say i enjoy the season but can i say i like it more than s3 so far? i don't know about that. of course, given my gigantic leyren bias, getting content of them automatically makes s3 & s4 better than the first two for me. i don't mind the veronica storyline and i like someone more aggressively butting heads with max vs just balking at his ideas. however this glacial moving in universe timeline and repeated Big Deal about helen and max moving got old for me. i definitely agree with you about helen though, her character has kind of taken a backseat in 4a storyline wise for max. i expect that will be reversed for 4b and we'll hopefully get into the meat of her arc for the season.

max's character has always been that idealistic, disregards reality to do what he thinks is the right thing, type. though i think even the writers recognized in an interview that they took his savior complex too far in s3 lol. but that's also why i like fuentes coming in as his total anthesis. they're both two extremes and somewhere in the middle, is the solution to keeping new amsterdam running with it's heart and soul in tact without going bankrupt in the process. think about it. max approved a $2M surgery for one patient this season when in a previous season, $2M was an entire program that he had to cut in order to make payroll. he's learned nothing from that and keeps spending money irresponsibly, even if it is with good intentions. so overall, i still like max's character but he's definitely grated on my nerves more often lol.

i don't fault the sharpwin shippers for hyping up their ship's scenes when i do the same about leyren and admittedly, find those moments more captivating as a viewer. how can i not? it just resonates to me, personally, more. what i do fault them for however, is feeling the need to aggressively rain on other people's parades and talk smack like it's a contest when we're all out here minding our business lmaooo.

also, have a good week anon :)

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

WARNING: A little NSFW.

NOTE: Welcome to July! I went nearly a week with no internet, but I have returned and I intend to start jamming this fic through to the end. We're essentially entering the last "arc" of the story now and I hope you're all ready for it. Thank you for the reviews and continued readership, I appreciate that so much - especially when I'm taking forever to get this finished.

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

"Aww, c'mon, why am I the only one excited about this?"

The rest of the gang sort of shrugged noncommittally. None of them seemed to want to say aloud that the reason they couldn't summon the same level of anticipation as Yosuke was that they were still missing Narukami. Chie was staring down into her usual bowl of meat, stirring it distractedly.

"Not even you, Satonaka?!"

"Why me?!" she protested grumpily. "Like, single somebody else out, you jerk!"

Wilting in defeat, Yosuke leaned back against the railing around the school roof. "Ugh… you're all impossible."

"It's just Golden Week," Yukiko protested with a slight squirm. She wanted to be kind, to resist the temptation to pop Yosuke's little bubble of joy. But she also wanted to be realistic. "I agree, it would be wonderful to have a little vacation, but if we can't agree on where to go, and aren't that excited as a group…"

"Come on, we shouldn't have to give up that easy." Rise shrugged and hopped up from her seat. "Why don't we just do Okinawa? It's far enough that it's a vacation without being so crazy that all our time would be taken up by travel. I mean, unless we have to go all the way to Hawaii or something to have a good time."

The floppy-haired boy looked at her like she was the coming Messiah, drifting down from upon high to bless him with her presence. "Bless you. Absolutely bless you for saving me! I could kiss you!"

When he started to approach, she held up a hand palm out. "Try it and I will be wearing your teeth as a necklace." As he deflated, she turned the charm back on and pressed her hands together on one side of her face, smiling a dazzling smile. "Okinawa it is! We just need an adult to accompany us, or we're gonna get hassled a lot."

"Hmm, good point," Naoto said. Then the group as one looked toward the unsuspecting Kanji.

"Huh? Wha- I'm younger than most of you guys!"

"Yeah, but you look older," Chie pointed out with a thoughtful expression, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Do you think we could pull it off?"

While the taller boy was very clearly fuming that they thought of him as an old man, Yosuke put his fists firmly on his hips. "Yeah! I'm liking this! Next stop, the island of Okinawa!"

                                                        ~ o ~

Of course, even though at that time Rise was overjoyed, there would be complications. And one of these was pointed out to her by Ebihara after school, when they were stopping off at the Shiroku store just to take a poke around.

"Why didn't you suggest everybody go see Narukami?"

Rise stopped dead with her hand halfway reaching toward a candy bar. "Oh… I… wow, that is a really good point."

"As if I make any other kind," Ai scoffed with a half-smirk. "But yeah… probably a little late now, since you have everybody amped up to go to Okinawa. But hey, there's always summer vacation."

"Yeah, that's true… but I feel incredibly stupid. Seriously, why didn't I think of him first? We all miss him… me most of all, since he's my boyfriend."

The taller girl rolled her eyes as she picked up a bottle of green tea. "Are we going back to that? You can't do anything about it publicly right now, anyway — since the entire world is convinced you're having a 'Class S fling' before you grow up."

The words hit her so hard she had to brace against the wall to keep from pitching over. "You saw that one, huh?"

"All over every tabloid. They really like that outdated way of thinking; like girls can't legitimately want to be with girls for their whole lives. To be honest, I'm a little shocked you aren't being hounded by paparazzi at this exact second. We don't exactly have a lot of LGBT idols."

"Yes, well… there aren't any pictures, so technically, it's just a bunch of gossip from teenage girls. Only had a handful of phone calls about it, and saying 'no comment' to all those seemed to actually stop them. Pretty weird."

"That's because you're all washed up, Kujikawa," she sighed, smirking hard at her. "Yesterday's news. Retired before your time."

"Stooop! Why are you so mean to me?!" She slapped her a few times on the arm, and Ai laughed and held it up to shield herself a little better.

"Kidding! God, take a joke, bitch. But for real… maybe the word isn't out about your comeback yet, so they don't think you're worth being headline news. It will get a lot bigger when you get a lot bigger again."

At least that was a less bleak spin on the situation. Rise smiled over at her as they paid for their odds and ends and headed out. "Fine. I just don't know what difference it makes to you where we go."

"Hey, maybe I want to see Okinawa just as bad as you. Why are you the one that gets to decide everything without my input?"

"Oh, don't be such a…" Then it caught up to her, and she turned with raised eyebrows to look at her girlfriend. "What?"

"You're the one who can't finish her thought. What what?"

"I didn't think you would want to come with us."

Ai scowled as they came to a stop in the middle of the main street, hands on her hips. "You really think you're going on a big Golden Week vacation and I won't want to go with my supposed romantic partner?"

"No, not… I didn't think you would want to go with them. After what happened."

"Mm. I mean, clearly they are complete morons. But… being with you trumps having to put up with their idiotic antics. Besides… you gotta."

Jutting out her chin, she said, "Hey! I don't 'gotta' do anything but stay cute and talented!" Ai only laughed, so she stamped her foot. "Don't you laugh at me!"

"Why not? You're adorable. And anyway, I meant because I'm your giiirlfriend, so how would it look if you showed up there without me? Or if the town spotted me wandering around this week while you're out there living it up. Face it, you really painted yourself into a corner this time, Kujikawa."

Still pouting, she muttered, "Fine, senpai. I guess you know best."

"I do," she replied, mussing her hair up. Rise slapped at her hands and she laughed, and eventually Rise couldn't help laughing as well. "Sorry, I know that's a pain in the ass to fix. But you're just too cute!"

"I am," she admitted with a sigh. "And you're right; I did this whole 'public relationship' thing to get you to listen to me, and it was a dirty trick. This is my punishment. I must accept it diligently."

"Who the hell are you supposed to be now? Wait, you know what? Don't tell me. Let me just believe you lost your goddamn mind." That one earned her a lot more smackings.

                                                        ~ o ~

Everything bumped along easily enough through to the following Saturday. The minute their classes let out, the whole gang was racing home to their already-packed bags, ditching their uniforms, and hopping the train to a bus, to the airport. It was a mess of changeovers and stress, but Naoto had mapped the perfect route that would limit their time spent travelling without costing them extra. Without her, they would have been sunk.

The trip itself took the entire rest of the day. By the time they dragged themselves into their rooms in the rustic inn, they were all ready to fall immediately into bed and be dead to the world for several hours so that the next day they could enjoy themselves. The problem was…

"Wait, where are our beds?!"

Yosuke wasn't wrong. The traditional-looking room most certainly didn't have beds at all. The boy pouted as he dropped his duffel bag and clutched at his hair, scanning every nook and cranny as if one would jump out at him from the shadows.

"This does seem to be very traditional," Yukiko pointed out, scanning the room again. She immediately crossed to the closet and yanked open one of the sliding doors. "Ah! Futon."

"Futon?! Aww, I thought they'd have Western beds! We're on vacation, for cryin' out loud!"

"Don't be such a baby," Chie sighed, stretching her limbs. "Feel more sorry for those of us who don't like sleeping with a bunch of nosy jerks so close to each other. Like you."

While he was pouting and grumbling, Rise glanced between her and the dutiful Yukiko, who was already laying out the futons for everyone without prompting. Falling into her usual job. Chie probably meant that she was upset she wouldn't get much "alone time" with her girlfriend while they were all lying on top of each other. That really was too bad; even if she had barely tasted true love with Narukami, and seen hints of it in a certain affluent team manager, she knew that being kept away from it would likely be as agonising as it sounded.

And speak of the devil…

"Sucks to be you guys."

They all turned at once, and Rise cringed when she noticed everybody else froze. So she tried to be quick about announcing, "Hey, Ebi-chan! You made it!"

"Thank you, Welcoming Committee Of One," she snorted as she glanced around at the rest of them. "And you guys, too. Really doing a great job of making me feel like this trip was worth it."

"You don't have to be here," Chie muttered.

"What's that? It almost sounded like you had something to say, Bowl Cut."

Said bowl cut almost seemed to bristle as Chie rolled up the sleeve of her green jacket and started to stomp over toward her. But Kanji grabbed her by the neckline to hold her back. "Can't you guys save it till tomorrow?" he yawned. "I'm beat."

"Please?" Rise insisted. The tomboy looked like she wanted to protest, but she dropped back to fold her arms over her chest sulkily.

"Beautiful," Ai snorted. "I've just come to collect my property and then I'll head back to my room."

"What property is that?" Rise asked. When Ai pointed at her, she gulped and whispered, "Oh."

"I don't think that's very nice," Yukiko remarked with a slight frown.

Summoning a smile wasn't exactly easy when she was dealing with all those butterflies in her stomach, but Rise managed. "She's kidding, Yuki-chan. Thanks, though."

"Who says I was kidding? If you want me to keep playing along with this media circus, you're my bitch. Get used to it." Then she smirked at the others. "I promise to return her in good condition. Slightly used."

As they headed out, Rise bowing slightly and apologising, she overheard Chie muttering "The nerve of that guy" before the door shut behind them. Great.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yep."

"I'm really sorry. I tried to explain ab-"

"I don't give a shit what Bowl Cut thinks about me. They can all think I'm some drag queen if they want; there are worse things in the world. Like bigots."

"Y-yeah," she laughed nervously. "But I'm kinda hoping… we can all get along during this trip. Maybe they can even be better than-"

"Don't hold your breath."

"I will," she told her, a little frustrated with being cut off so many times. "I'll hold my breath until Golden Week is over if I want to, you aren't the boss of me. No matter what you just told them."

Finally, Ai turned to smirk at her as they walked along toward the other hotel room. She had flown ahead, given that she had access to more swift modes of transportation than the plebs; Rise could have done the same, but she wanted to hang with the group. "Oh, we'll see about that, bitch. But not tonight. Everybody's exhausted."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." However, she changed her tune quick when Rise turned on her heel and started walking back the way they came. "Wha- hey!" She jogged a couple of steps to catch up. "Where are you going?"

"Back to crowd into that shitty little room. It's better than being called your bitch every five seconds."

"Hey, whose fault is that? And do you really wanna have a public fight where the paparazzi can see us?"

"I don't even care. Maybe that would be for the best; then it's a public end to the public thing, and you can be an asshole to… to whoever you want, on your own time! So just leave me alone and go… to…"

The hand clamped onto her own gave her pause. The touch was firm but not rough; just enough to keep her from storming any further toward where her friends were getting ready for bed. When Rise didn't try pulling away, she caught up enough to place her other hand on Rise's shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Wow, you really are a jerk." Ai swallowed hard before continuing, "I'm sorry… for being so… ugh. This is a pain in the ass."

"Then I guess I'm not worth it to you."

"Wow, loaded statement much?" No response, so she pressed ahead, "I'm trying. Okay? I'm just a bitch by default, you know that — and you did some fucked shit to me. Let me work through it if you want to get anywhere."

Rise turned and buried her face in Ai's chest, nuzzling against the side of her neck. The taller girl's breath caught and held fast. "Just be nice to me. Try?"

"Rise…" After a second, her hand drifted up to press into her back, holding her there. "Come on. Let's go get some sleep."

"Yeah." They parted, turned to head for Ai's room… but weren't walking nearly as far apart this time. That was marked progress.

                                                        ~ o ~

The next morning was a lot more interesting than that evening. They were so dead tired that they only got about half their clothes off before crawling into the futons Ai had set up — right next to each other. Her rationale was that if anyone checked the suite, it would support their claim that they were a hot-and-heavy couple. Rise found it hard to argue with that.

However, waking up with a decent-sized boner digging into her hip was a fine hello.

'Oh GOD,' she squealed internally. 'This can't be happening! Ai is all horny and too asleep for me to be able to ask her to cut that out!' In fact, she had tried to dig her elbow into her side, just enough to rouse her; no luck. If she did more than that she was afraid of robbing her of her sleep, or waking her up in a bad mood that might persist for the remainder of the day. Or worse: waking her up and embarrassing her, which she didn't want to do, either.

Then again… she couldn't pretend some part of the reason she didn't wake her was interest. What was it like to touch her directly? Not just petting along it with one finger for half a second — or through underwear and a long t-shirt; she already knew what that felt like, given that she had been dealing with the sensation for about fifteen minutes by now.

The worst part was how her own body was reacting. At first, she was just nervous and maybe a little creeped out, even though her curiosity was always there. But by now… she felt her heart pounding, throat dry, and tingles in places she had rarely felt tingles before. All thanks to a rigid little monster hiding in her girlfriend's panties.

"Wakey-wakey, Ebi-chaaaan," she whispered to the figure slumbering against her side. She really did look so sweet there. So pretty… she wanted to kiss her again. But that wasn't okay! She was asleep. Even though she knew it was a relatively harmless thing to do, she still didn't feel quite right about it.

Maybe she should try to slide out from under her. Yes, that sounded like a much safer idea. Nobody would feel like they had been violated this way. So little by little, she began to inch away from her, keeping her eyes on Ai's flawless features…

"Nnnhh…"

"Hey!" Rise squeaked when the sleeping girl redoubled her grip on her. Shit! She bit her lip, trying to ignore how much closer to a certain area that firm presence was now. Could she find no relief from this personal hell?!

This was supposed to be Narukami. Oh, she had dreamed many times about waking up beside him, letting him see a glimpse of a sexy shoulder before she pulled her kimono on and went to get breakfast. Sometimes, he dragged her back to bed, began to ravage her with kisses. And sometimes…

Well, no, she didn't really imagine sex. That part wasn't as integral to her fantasies; she just wanted to enjoy the physical and emotional intimacy. The act itself might be fun but she wasn't as concerned with that. But from time to time, she did imagine Yu kissing all over her neck, or-

OH NO. Now she was even more tingly and right up against the thing that had instigated these tingles in the first place. This was getting bad! Ai was groaning a little from all the movement but not quite rousing from her slumber. So she was still stuck fast.

"Ebihara, please," she hissed, pushing at her shoulders slightly. The noises got louder. "Hey! Are you in there, somewhere?!"

"Mhhh?" she asked as her hips began to grind a little — and Rise could swear she was seeing stars. This was awakening her body for the first time and she was just starting to wish that this wouldn't stop. "Who… wha?"

When Ai's eyes slit open and she saw Rise was beneath her, she blinked a few times. Rise gulped and grimaced. Then the teen queen began to frown down at her pop star girlfriend as she struggled to come up with a proper greeting.

"Oh. I uh… good… morning?"

                                                                To Be Continued…

[bluekaddis]

Well this is going to be a weird one I guess. Huuge amount of people ship their Inquisitors with Cullen. Yes he is hot, inner conflicts abound, redemption arc, marriage yaay and stuff. But have they ever truly wondered about "sweet Curly"? In DA2 he is a douchebag, promoting genocide and discriminating people. In DA:I he hardly does anything to get his redemption, or acknowledges his faults outright. I don't think Lizzie's tender nature would allow it regardless of her affiliation. So why him?

Hi Anon,

I will discuss mostly Lizzie's perspective in this post, as my personal thoughts on liking Cullen as a character, his attitude and redemption throughout the game can already be found here. I think they pretty much sum that topic up. I would only add comment here, about the fans "ever truly wondering about sweet Curly" - I probably cannot speak for everyone here, but... yes, they have? Remember, we all played the same games. Cullen's dialogues are not some very rare codex entry that is easily missed. People who like Cullen (or just find him an interesting character) surely have their own thoughts about it.

Ok, back to the topic.

To be honest -if Lizzie was to work only with people, whose past or present actions or morals have never-ever bothered her, she would have to run the Inquisition with Josie alone. Good luck.

If Lizzie met Cullen during the events of DA2 she would most probably not fall in love with him back then (and definitely would not agree to be with him). But even in that scenario, seeing Cullen changing and working towards being a better a person (which I believe started in Kirkwall after Meredith's death and continued in Inquisition) would make it possible for them to be together and happy in the end. You are right, that IF Cullen showed no remorse or change of attitude in Inquisition, she would not want to be with him. But - as I explained in the my older post linked at the begging - for me, this is the "IF" scenario, not my game experience.

Lizzie was also trained to be a templar. She grew up in a family that fully supported the Chantry. She knows the rhetoric, she once believed  in most of it and she knows how hard it is to be finally confronted with the truth - that the ideology you trusted and believed in is full of lies, corruption and suffering of others. Lizzie was never a zealot but at least she understands where Cullen comes from and what he needs to challenge within his own belief system.

That being said, it is not like Lizzie is patting Cullen on his back every time he says something rooted in his templar beliefs. They can disagree and Lizzie usually wins those kind of arguments. She does not really need Cullen to be her moral compass - she has her own. It is Cullen's ethics that benefit more from this relationship. I believe that Cullen's redemption absolutely would be possible without Inquisitor’s influence, but she definitely helps.

 And a reason why she fell in love with Curly?

 To name a few:

- he doesn't treat her like a messiah but a real human being

- he works his 200% norm for the organization which they hope will help people and restore peace

- he is honest with his words and actions (for someone who grew up in a manipulative noble family that is a huge deal)

- he values her opinions, even if he disagrees with them at some point

- he makes her feel safe when they are together

- he does not expect her to fix his personal problems (but appreciates her support)

- he is an attractive man and a strong and skilled warrior – yes, there is no point in denying the fact

- they have a somehow similar sense of humor

- he loves dogs!!!

- he does not demand sexual intimacy at the early stage of their relationship

- he makes her feel needed and wanted

- he truly, genuinely loves her

...

Yep, I think we can stop here.

[themattress]

“You don't have to kill anyone. You don’t go around killing people. It's not nice.”

This was said by George Lucas when developing Return of the Jedi, as justification as to why he axed Han Solo’s death even though Harrison Ford desperately wanted in (and as a result phoned in his performance throughout the movie), and why he didn’t even want to kill Yoda. 

What’s disheartening for me is that too many fans these days agree with him.

I am not arguing that all character deaths are good, because that is far from the truth. Character deaths that are done for shock value, for misogynistic reasons, for not being able to think of anything else to do with the character even when there are obvious creative paths available....those are all terrible and should be condemned.  But so many people these days just condemn any character death (or imperilment, troubles, or any kind of high-stakes conflict, really) as “BAD WRITING!” It’s a knee-jerk reaction just because they’re upset about the death or whatever, without actually taking time to think and analyze if it was earned or not, if it’s truly objectively bad writing or if it’s just writing that they personally don’t care for.

Which brings me to my main subject here: Anthony and Joe Russo.

The Russo Brothers have directed four hit Marvel movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Despite all of these movies being critical and financial successes, there remains a sizable constituent on the internet who hates these movies and the Russo Brothers because they dare to kill off characters, create difficult and challenging conflicts between characters, and raise the stakes to the highest personal extent possible, with a happy ending not always guaranteed for all.

Yet despite these fans’ constant accusations of the Russos being the definitive bad MCU directors and for their movies to be full of bad writing, when looked at objectively these just don’t hold any water. The S.H.I.E.L.D - HYDRA connection? That was set up in the previous Capain America movie and in The Avengers. The titular Civil War between the Avengers? Makes absolutely perfect sense not just when considering the Sokovian Accords and Bucky being framed but also when considering the pasts, characters and motivations of each individual Avenger, especially Cap and Iron Man. And then of course we have Infinity War and Endgame, which have gotten the majority of fan outrage. And why is that, exactly?

Well, mostly because characters died. Some temporarily, some permanently, some horribly, some peacefully, but there was a lot of death. And naturally the fans of those characters are angry about that. But is it bad writing? Were those deaths unearned and hold no deeper significance? No. All the temporary deaths had to happen because that’s literally how the story goes - this is a loose adaptation of The Infinity Gauntlet, where half of all life in the universe is wiped out and then later restored, so of course that was going to happen here. 

Heimdall had to die in-universe as a sacrifice to get Bruce back to Earth and out of universe because Idris Elba didn’t want to play the role anymore. Loki had to die because a noble death for the sake of his family was always the trajectory of his arc in the whole MCU and it had to be done here after the original plan to do it in Thor: The Dark World fell through, plus it effectively establishes Thanos’ ruthlessness and kick-starts Thor’s arc in these two films. There are a lot of reasons for the death of the prime timeline’s Gamora and of alt!timeline’s Nebula later on which could fill a post of its own, but the bottom line is that they were narratively justified and well built up to. Vision had to die for obvious reasons and it’s nebulous at this point if it’s a permanent death anyway. And Tony Stark’s death was essential to closing out his overall character arc - I know that fans would love to see him live happily ever after with his wife and daughter, but when you put your feelings aside and look at him objectively you realize that this would be a betrayal of everything that had been established and developed about the character. As Doctor Strange put it, this was the only way.

The one death that I think is actually debatable is Natasha’s, and even then I feel that this is mitigated by the fact that they were also considering killing Clint instead: one of them had to die for the Soul Stone to be obtained and it was just a matter of which one would make the sacrifice play, which offers a brilliant thematic contrast between how Thanos obtained the Stone. While I’m sad it was Natasha, I admit that I do think it’s better off being her than Clint.

Some also take issue with how some characters got portrayed, chiefly Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, and Steve Rogers. With Thor, it’s a complicated issue involving either fans loving what was done with him in Ragnarok and upset that so much of that was reversed (although I find that the most essential things from that film were followed up on), or taking offense to his fat, drunken portrayal in Endgame (something I think is more a matter of bad acting than bad writing). With Bruce, they don’t like the Professor Hulk angle they went with, even though by all means it’s the logical conclusion to the character’s struggle with his dual nature and pays off brilliantly when all the Infinity Stones are collected. And I don’t think the ending for Steve himself is bad per se, but I will admit that if anything in these films absolutely deserves to be called bad writing, it’s his ending due to the implications it has for both of the Carter women. But since it only comes at the end and only affects a few characters, it’s not too bad, IMO.

An Infinity War-specific complaint is Thanos, whom people say is either made too sympathetic or even heroic and not villainous enough (which is a damn lie: Thanos as a three-dimensional being who is framed as the hero in his own mind and as the “hero” of the movie in order to serve its gut-punch of an ending does not make him any less of a repulsively evil monster), is adequately villainous but the narrative takes his side or acts like he has a point (again, confusing the deliberately twisted framework of the movie’s story for authorial intent, when in reality the Russos expect their audience to be intelligent enough to know that Thanos is hopelessly deluded in his messiah complex, which is made much clearer in Endgame), or is a bad villain because his plan makes no logical sense (if his plan made logical sense, he wouldn’t be the MAD Titan or even the villain, his plan is meant to be insane because he’s insane, it’s supposed to be illogical because Thanos isn’t adhering to real logic but to his twisted view of what should have been done on his homeworld that he is applying to the rest of the universe as part of a narcissistic desire to validate himself to everyone.)

An Endgame-specific complaint is time travel, which is messy in any story and thus always has people confused about its shaky and often inconsistent rules. Complaining about that misses the point that this is both a character drama so that’s where the focus should be - on how the time travel shenanigans affect them and not on the shenanigans themselves - and a freaking comic book movie, and comic books are full of these nonsensical elements. They always have been and they always will be. If you’re going in expecting every fantastical element to always make sense or always be consistent, then you’re watching the wrong film.

And of course there are nitpicks everyone likes to make. And that is the death of cinema.

If you don’t like the Russos’ movies for any personal reason, then you’re free to do so and to admit that. But going on that they’re “badly written”, or that they somehow trashed the MCU’s story and characters, or whatever hyperbole you come off with based on your emotions rather than looking at things objectively is wrong. It’s not your cup of tea, and that’s OK. But the fact still stands that these movies are objectively well-written and well-directed movies, and that characters dying and high-stakes conflicts transpiring are sometimes necessary. 

[oadara]

It seems like you've been calm while other fans have been freaking out about Daenerys fate. Why is that? Is it your confidence in your book reading? You seem to have been right for a long time about Daenerys character so I don't trust anyone but you.

Hello anon,

Thank you, that’s very kind of you. I feel humbled by your faith in me but I’ve been wrong, A LOT! I do believe that I have a good understanding of Daenerys character and her story arc. When it comes to my theories I would say that even though I’ve been pretty wrong about how events will unfold, I’ve been better at theorizing what events will occur, when it comes to Dany.

I’ve been saying for many years now that Dany will have a child, I’ve been certain of this longer than I’ve been certain about Jon and Dany getting together. Because while I believed in my heart of hearts that Jon and Dany were meant to be together right from the start of season 1, I had moments of doubt, right up to last season. This is mainly because I keep it present in my mind that we don’t write the story, we have no control of it, and therefore we’re at the mercy of the writers. But Dany having a child has been something that I’ve been positive will happen and no one will dissuade me of this until all six episodes of next season air and there is no baby. I will claim that child is coming till the bitter end.

Why am I saying this when I talk about it all the time (sorry), I’m saying it because that certitude I feel about Dany having a child, is close to the kind of certitude I’m starting to feel about Dany surviving and being a mother to that child. I can be horrifyingly wrong about this, and I’m well aware of that, but I can’t help the way I feel. I’m not saying this because I want it to happen, because I do want it to happen, I’m saying it because in analyzing the books and analyzing the show and trying hard to look at Daenerys arc subjectively I don’t see how her death would be a satisfying culmination to her story.

Dany’s had a path of learning, a path of growth, and a deep yearning to belong, to have a family and a home. Giving birth and then dying, is not equal to having a family. The kind of death to me seems incongruous with her story. As a leader, she does have messianic symbolism attached to her, and if she were to die, I believe it would most likely be attached this this part of her character.

However, the way I’ve seen it, her “role” as a messiah is superseded by her role as a mother and leader of disparate people. Her role as a mother and as a leader is the type of role that will need to be filled after the War for Dawn. A leader who could bring together the smorgasbord of what will be left. But you also need the hope, for a new beginning, hope for a new generation, the promise of youth, that a mother gives. All that training, time learning to lead, to rule, to make mistakes and learn from them, this has to be for something.

I’m not going to spend the next nine months or however long it is until season 8 premieres anxious about something I have no control over and something ingenuity believe is going to happen. I don’t think that the story they are telling us, no matter what anybody says.

In thinking about this question it occurred to me that all the Houses that led to the downfall of House Targaryen have suffered tremendously, every poor House Stark and they were in the right. But House Baratheon and Houses Lannister went too far, not just with the Targaryens but in their pursuit of power. That’s why I think their falls will be the greatest. I mean, the main line of House Baratheon was wiped out.

I believe GRRM has said that the clues to the outcome of the series could be found in book one. At the end of book 1, a Targaryen rose from the ashes to start anew and I think that’s exactly what’s been happening all along and I think that’s exactly how it’s going to end.

It’s just a theory but I’m sticking to it.

TTFN

[class1akids]

Your point of the answer to Uraraka’s “who is there for the heroes” being “everyone should be” makes a lot of sense! I think I just focused on Deku because every time she raises that point in the narration, it’s in relation to Deku, but it’s true that Deku isn’t the only hero that will ever need help, and class 1A aren’t going to be there for every single hero. So it makes sense for her to point out that at the end of the day, they’re all human beings.

Yeah, I kept thinking also that it would be about Deku, but seeing the set-up with the civilians, it feels like it won't be a magical girlfriend heals with true love trope.

I personally feel like the strongest Ochako chapter was 296, where she kept saving people, despite knowing they could be villains in disguise, in a terrible disaster zone when seasoned heroes' lost heart.

Ochako watching this guy quit was such a strong moment, because it was a very human moment of someone reaching their limit and be all alone in that low-point.

As a child, she's inspired a lot by the smiles on everyone's faces as they watch a hero save them from trouble - and notice that the only one we don't see with a face is the hero. He's wearing a mask.

AI think during her time in UA, Ochako starts to see more and more the hurting human face behind the hero mask, and starts to realize how artificial is the separation between heroes and the rest of society or this idea that heroes can't behave like humans (which is where trying to push her crush away comes in, because she feels that behaving like a normal teenage girl will somehow become an obstacle to her hero ideal).

You know, it's a bit hard for me to see why exactly Uraraka is the one making this point, because her arc is less consistent than some other characters', but it's been a bit the theme of this whole arc. That perceived contradiction between being a hero (living an ideal, always being plus ultra) and being a human (who has weaknesses and flaws). Dark Deku is a caricature of this thinking - he's so consumed by his messiah-complex that he's even shed the most basic needs of sleep and bath.

Something has to give, and this is the generation that I think will challenge this aspect of hero society. That somehow their hero selves can be separate from who they are as human beings. This is especially true for the Origin Trio, whose arcs all tie back to this idea of their heroism and their personal values are being one and the same.

And I think (hope), Ochako who was there with the civilians all the way in the horrible aftermath and witnessed first hand not just their vulnerability, but also their heroism like that little girl saving her brother, can maybe a good voice to tell them this.

[seiikas]

Hello! I need to catch up on Naruto and I would like to know since you are a fan of Sasuke why do you like his character ? I often think Sasuke is misunderstood by a lot of people, myself I have sometimes a hard time understanding him but I find him interesting ! Hope this question don't bother you, have a good day! :)

Hi! Don’t worry, your question doesn’t bother me at all! My reply is under the readmore. I’m sorry that it got so gigantic! It almost turned into a novel lol. It also may contain mild spoilers so please proceed with caution :)

One of the reasons I like him is because he’s human. Sasuke went through extreme trauma and mental torture at the age of 9, received absolutely no treatment or therapy for it, and was sent to live by himself in the same house his parents were murdered in. He didn’t get any help to deal with his trauma as he grew up. Would a normal human be able to get over such a thing simply because they found friends? to me the fact that Sasuke still suffers and is so affected by his trauma is what makes him realistic. He always needs to rely on a big life goal, put all of his thoughts and efforts into it, whether it’s revenge or justice or redemption, because if he doesn’t have one, it would be just him and his trauma to focus on, and would anyone be able to actually live like that? To me it’s amazing that Sasuke was even able to go on living by himself, to go to school and study and even find emotional attachment to people, protect them and sacrifice himself for them.

In general, most humans aren’t simply good or bad. The majority of us can be kind and generous while still being mean and selfish at times. We can be strong and still have moments of absolute weakness. The majority of us struggle with our mental illnesses and don’t just “get over it”, especially without any help. Sasuke is kind and selfless; he sacrificed himself for Naruto during the Haku fight, was ready to sacrifice himself again to save Naruto and Sakura during the Gaara fight, during the chuunin exams Kabuto pointed out how soft he was because he refused to attack him to get his scroll despite the fact that that’s what the exam required of him, in early shippuden he refused to kill anyone and ordered Taka not to kill, he learned how to extinguish the Amaterasu flames in order to save Karin, he threw himself in front of Sarada to protect her, he gave up on a peaceful life for himself for the sake of protecting their hard-earned world peace. But he also had times when he could be mean and selfish, when the pressure and the sadness were just too much, when he didn’t know how to deal with the trauma and the lies and the shock. And to me that’s a character that I can support, not because I think his mistakes were justified but because he’s not a messiah, he actually has to struggle with himself and his flaws, he has to fight against his trauma and his mental illnesses, which is what most humans are like instead of simply being wise and strong and flawless from the start.

What people fail to understand about Sasuke is that he’s a good person; that’s exactly the reason why his cruelty during the Gokage meeting arc was so shocking to every character in the story, because it was there to show that he wasn’t himself anymore; that’s exactly why the explanation of the “Uchiha curse” exists; and yet for some reason people tend to take that as being Sasuke’s actual personality, despite the fact that the manga had shown him in his normal state before, that we had actually gotten to see his gradual fall into darkness and his reason for it.

I like how Sasuke tends to be silent and distant on the outside but soft and kind on the inside. It’s thanks to him that team 7 gets accepted by Kakashi in the first place, because he decides to feed Naruto even though he was told not to. When he hears that Itachi is in the village, the first thing he worries about is Naruto’s safety, not his own safety or his own goals. He notices when Sakura is feeling down and comforts her by praising her abilities. He rarely ever expresses his feelings in words but he shows them with his actions; by sacrificing himself for someone, by protecting them, by showing pride towards their accomplishments, by gestures like the forehead poke. You’ll rarely find him saying cheesy things but if he cares about you and loves you, you’ll know. On the inside, he loves intensely. (Btw, how cute is it that he feeds cats and makes friends with them during his travels?)

Another thing I like about Sasuke is his extreme love and loyalty towards his family. Maybe it’s because I’ve been raised in a culture where family is always the most important, but I can’t help but appreciate how none of the things he did throughout the series were for himself, but for his family. People think Sasuke is disloyal because he “betrayed” Konoha but the truth is, Sasuke’s loyalty was never with Konoha to begin with, from the start it was always about family, he wanted to be acknowledged by his father, he wanted to join the Uchiha police force. He loved his mother and brother so much, cared about his father’s impression of him, was so proud of his family. And every single thing he wanted to do throughout the series was for them, wanting to avenge them, restore their honor, protect Konoha for Itachi’s sake. The fact that Sasuke and the rest of the Uchiha saw “the Uchiha” and “Konoha” as two separate entities and were only loyal to one of those was a result of Konoha’s own choice to alienate the Uchiha; you can’t treat a group of people like shit and then expect them to somehow love you and be loyal to you.

Sasuke doesn’t fit any generic shounen character type. His character is complex. He starts off as the typical rival but soon his character goes its own way. He has his own goals, his own path in life, his own relationships and his story doesn’t revolve around the main character or catching up to him. In fact it’s the opposite, it’s Naruto whose story mostly revolves around Sasuke. He’s one of the characters who makes this story unpredictable and interesting. Because let’s be real, the plot of Naruto is rather predictable. Naruto meets villain, Naruto has training arc or gets a powerup, Naruto defeats villain, rince and repeat until he becomes Hokage. Even one of the biggest “mysteries” of the series, Tobi’s identity, was predicted by everyone after his very first appearance. Throughout all of this it’s Sasuke who keeps the story interesting, because you’re never really sure what he’s gonna do, how he’s gonna react to things, where he’s gonna end up. That’s the reason why he was/is often the main subject of discussion even among people who don’t like him. Even up until the very end some people were saying he was gonna come back and become anbu, some were saying he would leave with taka, some thought he would die. No one could really guess where he would end up, whereas with other characters things were much more easy to predict.

I like Sasuke because I actually stop to look at things from his point of view as well; I know it’s hard to do so when the narrative always presents things from Naruto and Sakura’s side. It’s easy to just look at the surface and say: Sasuke made Naruto and Sakura sad, therefore he is bad. But when I look at things from Sasuke’s point of view, I understand all of the things he does, and I realize the choices he makes are often the most realistic considering his situation.

Let’s start from the very beginning. A lot of people hate Sasuke because they think he “treated Naruto like shit” throughout part one. But if you actually take the time to read the manga, who was the one who showed contempt towards the other first? It was Naruto. He hates Sasuke because he’s popular and Sakura likes him. This is established from the very beginning. The accidental kiss happened because Naruto tried to provoke Sasuke as a result of his jealousy. Naruto was the one who attacked Sasuke first—tied him up and tried to kiss Sakura while posing as him. And yet only minutes after that Sasuke still chose to defend him against Sakura. Throughout the rest of part one Sasuke and Naruto do bicker and fight a lot, but all of those fights and insults are two-sided and yet for some reason I only ever see people focus on Sasuke’s side.

It’s the same with all of the more serious fights between them. The majority of them were actually started by Naruto. People claim that Sasuke mistreated and/or abused Naruto and Sakura; but the truth is, if Sakura and Naruto hadn’t chased after Sasuke, Sasuke wouldn’t have even met any of them between chapter 180 and 631. That’s the space between when he left Konoha and when he joined the war. That’s more than 450 chapters. Naruto is the one who started the first big Nar/Sas fight. He chased after Sasuke and told him he’d “break his arms and legs and bring him back like a broken stick” if he had to. The fight against team Kakashi in Orochimaru’s lair happened because they chased after him and tried to bring him back. The fight in the Gokage meeting arc happened because Sakura chased after Sasuke and tried to kill him by herself. Sasuke simply left and made it clear to them that he had severed their bonds; they’re the ones who went after him. You can’t be an abuser when you don’t even want a relationship with your so-called victims. Every single time, he was either rejecting them and/or retaliating against their own attacks. Am I saying they shouldn’t have tried to stop him even when he was a criminal? No, but people shouldn’t pretend that Sasuke was specifically going after Sakura and Naruto to hurt or “abuse” them, when they’re the ones who chased after him. He was an enemy of Konoha because the village had murdered his family in cold blood. It’s not about “abuse” or Sakura and Naruto’s feelings.

And it’s easy to only consider their feelings in this situation; oh, they loved him and wanted to save him but he rejected them, he’s such an ass. But the truth is Sasuke doesn’t have to go back to the village that killed off his family, made him miserable and offered him no support as a childjust to make them happy. He doesn’t have to put their feelings before his own. He doesn’t have to put them, teammates that he had been with for a few months at most, over his family that raised him for 9 years. People are allowed to reject relationships they don’t want. Yes, rejection hurts, but it doesn’t automatically make the person who rejected you an asshole.

It’s easy to judge Sasuke for his decisions without paying attention to the circumstances that caused him to make them. “He betrayed his friends and left Konoha”— even though he had just had the shit beaten out of him by his brother, had been mentally tortured for days within a genjutsu, had been told he was weak because he didn’t have enough hate. People just expect a twelve-year-old to deal with it and move on.“He flip-flopped too much”—despite the fact that he had had his entire world turned upside down because he had been told that his whole life was a lie, his abusive brother loved him all along and it was Konoha who had caused his misery. I don’t know how or why people expect someone to just stay strong while being put through all of that.

I have a lot of issues with the series itself and the morals it tries to convey. For example, the series tries to pit “talent” and “hard work” against each other; Kishimoto seems to think that talented people don’t work hard or that they are somehow assholes by default (it’s also hypocritical because later on we find out Naruto himself actually had a lot of natural talents and advantages as well). I see a lot of people make arguments such as “Sasuke had everything handed to him while Naruto worked hard”. They ignore how hard Sasuke worked to learn the fireball jutsu and the Chidori, or how he trained with Orochimaru for three years, they also ignore that Naruto was able to learn the Rasenshuriken with minimal effort because of his naturally high chakra reserves or that almost the entirety of his power as an adult relies on Kurama, something that was given to him at birth. They ignore that everytime Sasuke got a free powerup Naruto got one too.

I also hate how the series tries to portray Sasuke and anyone else who wants reform or justice as a villain. Kishimoto thinks status quo > reform. It doesn’t matter if keeping the status quo means sweeping genocides under the rug, trampling on the rights of smaller villages with less power, ignoring the discrimination happening within clans. As long as “the village” is still standing, everything is okay. Don’t try to fix anything. Accept the “darkness” of the village. I come from a country with a dictatorship, so it’s much easier for me to understand Sasuke who wanted change rather than Konoha and their obsession with keeping everything as is. Yes, Sasuke’s method of fixing things was wrong, but people forget that this boy’s role model was Itachi, the one who thought the best way to protect a little kid was to torture him and tell him to live with hate, and it’s not like anybody actually condemned those actions. Everyone who knew the truth about Itachi thought he was the wisest person in history—the fandom does as well. And yet people are surprised when Sasuke thinks the best way to fix the system is through making people hate him. Only then does the fandom start talking about how “Sasuke should’ve learned from Itachi’s mistakes”, despite the fact that every other time they deny Itachi even made mistakes. The fact that Sasuke is ready to live a life of misery where everyone hates him is proof of how selfless he is, because yes it’s a misguided decision but it’s not a pleasant one, it’s not something he’s doing for himself. In the end instead of finding a better way to fix the system, Naruto just decides to keep the status quo.

Of course I like his design and abilities as well. I mean let’s be real, the duckbutt is almost iconic at this point, lol. Sasuke has the most interesting fighting style, the swordplay combined with the fire and the way he evolved Kakashi’s Chidori into so many different weapons. Not to mention his switcheroo ability after he gets the rinnegan. In my opinion he also gets the most interesting fights as well, Sasuke vs Deidara is still one of my favorites.

Anyways I’m sorry that this post got so long. This is why I never write character analysis, I tend to ramble way too much lol. Hope you have a nice day and thanks for the ask!

[codeforsomethinggay]

can i ask why you didn't like rise of the tomb raider? not arguing, just curious! (if you don't mind, cause i'm interested in your opinion)

I don’t mind at all! Actually, thanks for asking, because I love to rant ;).

i think my biggest issue with Rise comes from an inherent difference in what i was expecting and wanting from a tr 2013 sequel, and what the Rise people actually wanted to make. I think the people behind Rise wanted to make a classic tomb raider game, but Modern and open world (which, just personally, are strikes 1 and 2 for me, since i don’t particularly care for classic tomb raider or open world games). What I (and I think most of the fandom) was wanting and expecting was … well, an actual sequel for tr 2013. 

And yeah, mechanically, Rise succeeds in that. The platforming and playstyle is essentially the same with a few fun new tricks (tho I would argue that the controls are a little screwy and the ai finicky in this one (i was stuck on one platforming puzzle for around 40 minutes because lara just wouldn’t grab the exact part of a platform the game apparently wanted her to, though i can’t say if this is more a problem between xbox/playstation, as this remains the only xbox game i’ve played)) and the light crafting system and sandbox of tr 2013 is hugely expanded (again, a personal pet peeve, but also a strange decision for a tomb raider game and kind of a transparent attempt at modernization bandwagoning. hell, apparently even god of war is crafting/open world now). Combat is improved. I don’t really have an  issue with any of that. The play is by far the best thing about Rise. And that’s really my problem.

It just doesn’t feel like an actual continuation of the story told and characters molded in tr 2013. And a huge fucking part of that is that of the four survivors of the Endurance, only two appear in this game. And one of those two is Jonah. Now, I like Jonah. If Reyes and especially Sam actually had any sort of presence in Rise, I would appreciate his presence as well. But, and really this is the biggest thing, they don’t. The first game was, frankly, just as much about Sam as it was Lara. The official, canon comics make it very clear Sam’s story isn’t close to finished. Yet, Rise mentions Sam a total of one (1) time, and that single mention doesn’t even jive with comics canon (which it really should, as the comics are really doing the heavy lifting story and character wise). And Jonah just straight up does not have the narrative or emotional connection to Lara that both Reyes and Sam do. 

Anyway, Jonah aside, the other survivor of that horrific trauma is Lara. But, honestly, you wouldn’t know it. The teaser those gifs came from showed us what we thought was a deeply traumatized, suffering, ill woman who doesn’t know what to do or how to be after she Survived. Not long after this perception was largely known and accepted, someone on the Rise team (and i can’t remember exactly who) straight up said they were surprised at this interpretation, and that the teaser was supposed to show how impatient Lara was to Get Back Out There and Discover. And I guess that’s the crux of the problem. That latter interpretation is the one present in Rise. Despite this pretty explicitly going against both tr 2013 and the comics. And despite the fact that that interpretation is fucking boring. It’s boring, disappointing, and just so fucking common. 

Actually, now that I read all that back, I think the Rise team and I had at least one problem in common: the comics. As I said, I think the story and character is far more present in the comics than the actual game itself. And this is also my problem with games like dragon age: inquisition and final fantasy 15 and blizzard: You cannot (or should not, I suppose, since they definitely do) rely on outside media that most of the players are not going to consume to make sense of (or, in the case of Rise, straight up tell) the story for you! Jonah���s arc exists just in the comics (again, unlike Reyes and Sam, who went through actual arcs in the original game). Lara’s emotions and tr 2013 personality and relationships exist just in the comics. Trinity, the main bad guys, are really only introduced in the comics. Sam pretty much just exists in the comics. The big problem I have here is that Rise relies on the comics for things like investment in Jonah’s character, Lara’s character development, and explaining Trinity. And then the game completely disregards the comics when it comes to Sam and overarching plot. 

The comics and game just don’t know how to coexist. The game doesn’t want to tell the story the comics are telling, and the comic has to contort itself to serve the game. I mean, the arc leading up to Rise was all about Himiko taking over Sam and Lara being there for her! And then, out of fucking nowhere, to justify why Lara would go on this ~adventure without Sam, they throw Sam in jail and have Lara ~realize she was just using Sam as an excuse to not go.Really, the plot of Rise should have been the some of the Ana + trinity stuff combined with the Choice and Sacrifice (trinity experiments on Sam, bring Himiko out, Himiko goes on a rampage throughout europe and collects followers). arc in the comic. Now that is a game I would have loved. A direct follow up to tr 2013 that wasn’t a retread, involves the original big bad with the new one, an interesting concept, a continuation of the comics that doesn’t make having read them necessary, and giving both Lara and the audience immediate emotional investment. Ah, but now I’m getting into what should have happened instead of what did.

Anyway, some smaller things: Jacob. Everything about him. The typical, boring messiah. The fact that he’s an ancient Syrian but is still white (like, his daughter is a fucking redhead). The fact that Lara cares more about him than the woman who is essentially her stepmother, and the audience is expected to as well.Which brings me to Ana! What a waste of a charcter. And the fact that she was killed post credits? Jesus.Plus Sofia, whose name I actually had to look up she’s such a nonentity. The treatment of men and woman in Rise is … bad. Especially following a game that has the tagline “a survivor is born” in which 3/4s of those survivors are women.

In the end, how I ultimately feel about Rise will depend on if we actually get an end to the trilogy, and how it’s handled. If we don’t or it’s handled poorly, I could end up seriously hating Rise for for being a poor ending/starting a downward spiral; or i could end up really appreciating it more! If we do get a final game and it’s satisfying, I’ll probably just resent Rise for wasting a game in a trilogy, and for making the lead so ooc and obscenely, disgustingly selfish.

…Sooo that was long and like, hopefully not preachy lol. Thanks for asking/sorry for this essay.