#front end vs back end developer

[buildoffshore1]

Experience innovation with a trusted front end development company. Our expert developers craft interactive, user-friendly, and high-performing web solutions tailored to your needs. Combining cutting-edge technology with creative design, we deliver websites that captivate and convert. Partner with us to bring your vision to life and leave a lasting impression on your audience. Let us help you stay ahead in the digital landscape.

[itcareerblogs]

What’s the Difference Between Front-End and Back-End Development? 

Web development is all about building websites and applications, and it’s divided into two main parts: front-end and back-end development. These two work together to make websites look good and function properly, but they have different tasks, tools, and skills. Let’s explore the differences in a simple way.

What is Front-End Development?

Front-end development is everything on a website or app that you can see and click on, like buttons, images, text, and menus. It’s all about making the website look nice and easy to use, so users can easily navigate and interact with it.

Example: When you visit a website and click on a button, the design you see and the way the button works is the result of front-end development.

Key Responsibilities of a Front-End Developer

Designing the user interface (UI): Creating how the website looks and making sure it's easy to use.

Making designs work on all devices: Ensuring the website looks good on phones, tablets, and computers.

Adding interactivity: Making the website interactive with things like buttons, menus, and animations.

Languages and Frameworks

Core Languages

HTML: Builds the structure of a website.

CSS: Styles the website with colors, fonts, and layout.

JavaScript: Adds interactivity like dropdowns and sliders.

Frameworks and Libraries

React.js: Used for building dynamic websites.

Angular: A powerful tool for building complex apps.

Vue.js: A simple and flexible tool for modern websites.

Bootstrap: Helps design websites that work well on all devices.

What is Back-End Development?

Back-end development is everything that happens behind the scenes on a website. It makes sure the website works properly by managing things like data storage and the server. When you do something on a website, like clicking a button or submitting a form, the back-end makes sure the right information is processed and sent where it needs to go.

Example: When you log into a website, the back-end makes sure your username and password are correct, finds your information in a storage system, and lets you into your account.

Key Responsibilities of a Back-End Developer

Managing Data: A back-end developer makes sure that data is stored safely and can be retrieved when needed.

Writing Code for the Server: They write the instructions that tell the website how to process actions, like when a user submits a form.

Making the Website Fast and Safe: They ensure the website works quickly and securely, protecting it from potential problems.

Languages and Frameworks

Core Languages

Python: Easy to learn and used with frameworks like Django and Flask.

Java: Great for large applications, often used with the Spring Boot framework.

PHP: Used for creating dynamic websites, with Laravel as a key framework.

Ruby: Often used with the Ruby on Rails framework for quick development.

JavaScript (Node.js): Allows developers to use JavaScript for both the front-end and back-end.

C#: Often used with ASP.NET for building web applications.

Databases

SQL-Based: Like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server for structured data.

NoSQL-Based: Like MongoDB, Cassandra, and DynamoDB for unstructured data.

The Connection Between Front-End and Back-End

Front-end and back-end work together to ensure the website functions correctly:

Front-End Role: When you visit an education website, the front-end shows you things like course listings, a search bar, and a login form to register or sign in.

Back-End Role: When you search for a course or log in, the back-end processes your request, checks the available courses in the database, and verifies your login details.

Front-End Role: After the back-end processes everything, the front-end shows you the list of courses or confirms your login and takes you to your student dashboard.

For example, when you want to enroll in a course, the front-end displays the course options. Once you select a course, the back-end checks if you're eligible, processes your enrollment, and confirms it. The front-end then shows your updated enrollment status.

Skills Required

Front-End Developer Skills

Proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Knowledge of front-end frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js.

Experience with responsive and accessible design.

Basic understanding of back-end APIs for better integration.

Back-End Developer Skills

Knowledge of server-side programming languages like Python, Java, or PHP.

Familiarity with frameworks like Django, Flask, or Node.js.

Experience with databases (SQL and NoSQL).

Understanding of APIs, security practices, and server management.

Which One You Should Choose?

Choose Front-End Development if you enjoy creating visually appealing websites and focusing on how users interact with them. You’ll work on designs, layouts, and make sure everything looks good and functions smoothly for the user.

Opt for Back-End Development if you enjoy problem-solving, working with data, and focusing on how everything behind the scenes works. You’ll deal with servers, databases, and ensuring the website runs efficiently.

Consider Full-Stack Development if you're interested in both the front-end and back-end. You’ll get to work on all parts of a website, from what users see to how the data is managed and processed.

Average Salary for each Development  Type

Front-End Developer

Focus on visual design and user experience, creating interactive and appealing websites.

₹6 LPA - ₹20 LPA (India)

$60,000 - $120,000 (Outside India)

2. Back-End Developer

Work on server-side logic, databases, and handling the functionality behind the scenes.

₹8 LPA - ₹25 LPA (India)

$70,000 - $130,000 (Outside India)

3. Full-Stack Developer

Work on both front-end and back-end, managing the entire website development process.

₹10 LPA - ₹30 LPA (India)

$80,000 - $150,000 (Outside India)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Career Paths and Roles

1. Front-End Developers

Front-End Developer

Web Designer

Front-End Engineer

React Developer / Angular Developer

UI/UX Designer

2. Back-End Developers

Back-End Developer

Database Administrator (DBA)

Server-Side Developer

API Developer

DevOps Engineer

Front-end and back-end development are two parts of building a website—they depend on each other to create websites that work well and look good. Understanding the differences can help you choose which path is right for you.

Both areas offer great job opportunities and are important for creating the websites and apps we use every day.

[mv1simp]

I’m so in love with your writing style and I think for a suggestion max and the reader being toxic asf exes but can’t get over eachother yk and try make eachother jealous but just end up in eachothers bed always 😭 sorry i suck at explaining but id die if i seen u write something like that 🥰

PLS I ALWAYS LOVE THIS CONCEPT nothing more juicy than some toxic tension with exes 🤭

Wicked Games ♥️

Max Verstappen x Toxic Ex!Reader

but baby let’s face it, I’m not into dating, all these hearts I’ve been breaking (come through, I'm not living like i did before)

no matter how hard you try, you just can’t stay away from your toxic situationship with playboy millionaire Max Verstappen after he breaks it off to be “just friends”. At least you can expect him to have more discipline than you, given his skillset as a 3 time F1 champion, right? Too bad he can’t seem to stay away from you either…

Content includes: 18+ MDNI, jealousy, toxic playboy! Max, smut, cheating, hate sex, just the usual classicsTM

You’d heard about Max Verstappen well before you first met him. Having recently moved to Monaco to start your new job working for a software company, you had quickly become familiar with the world of F1 - including its’ current top driver who was known for his aggressive style on the track and his lavish, playboy lifestyle off it. You hadn’t paid much heed to it until you were at a friend of a friend’s house party one night, after being peerpressured by the threat your coworker Bianca delivered that you were apparently “doomed to die alone as an old dog lady who sat in front of her 4 wide screen computers all day.” Bit dramatic, but it did the trick and soon you were walking through the doors of a raging party that night.

You had been warned that Monaco was a small place, filled with many of the rich and elite, and you were bound to run into some politician, actress or influencer sooner or later. You just hadn’t expected the first celebrity you met to be Max Verstappen, three time world champion, freshly out of a highly publicised breakup with a Russian supermodel! Bianca snarked next to you, yet he was laughing loudly in the middle of the living room, surrounded by his friends without a care in the world.

You shrugged, honestly quite disinterested in the celebrity thing, and had forgotten completely about the F1 driver until a few hours later when you found yourself alone on the outdoor balcony wanting some fresh air, tipsy from a bottle of white wine. Hearing the balcony door open and close again behind you, you started talking, assumed your friend had followed you out - I am never letting you convince me to drink that wine again Bianca, oh my god -

Only to turn around and come face to face with the infamous Max Verstappen himself. You hadn’t realised you had squeaked his full name out loud until he smiled bemusedly, saying just Max is fine, sweetheart. You blushed profusely, apologising and didn’t notice the way he looked you up and down in your cute, conservative outfit of light jeans and a fitted pastel cardigan. Instead of going back inside like you had expected, he struck up a conversation about how that white wine was truly deadly, which then led to a debate about the potency of red vs white vs rose, and before you knew it you two had been talking for hours about anything and everything, including your pets (you were very strongly pro-dogs while he preferred cats, which was just diabolical since they ignored humans half the time. He laughed and said that was the whole point). When he found out you worked in software - specifically, for one that specialised in developing e-sim racing tracks, his blue eyes lit up in genuine excitement as he animatedly began discussing specifics with you, an attractive pink flush on his cheeks from his drinking. He was insanely good looking, with his tall broad build and soft smile, and you were pleasantly surprised he was so down to earth. When it was time to go he had easily asked for your number, Bianca gawking at the scene as you typed your details into his phone, your caramel skin all flushed from the attention of a handsome man like Max. She dragged you off after, hissing at you to be careful, he’s way too much of a player for you, don’t expect much from him, okay? After a couple days went by and you had indeed, not heard anything from Max, you accepted that was that and promptly forgot about it.

But then, 3 weeks later in the middle of your Thursday afternoon Pilates session, your phone dinged with a text. Monza track is down in the system wtf. You guys gonna sort this out? You had panicked initially thinking the unknown number was your boss before your phone dinged again. This is Max btw. Wanna come over and fix the glitch here? Just this once plz 🙏

“Here” turned out to be Max’s insane penthouse apartment overlooking the Monaco marina, and just this once became a monthly occurrence whenever Max was home between races and on his rig with you beside him, sharing your technical knowledge about the online track to help him set new records. Monthly became weekly when Max realized you had never actually driven the rig yourself and you found yourself in his lap - for teaching purposes, of course Max stated unconvincingly - and weekly became almost daily when you started to become a little too good on the track and his hands moved down your body, into your cute short shorts and he expertly slid his fingers into you until you fell apart for the first time, still sitting right there on his lap. Think you need some more practise, schatje, Max had smirked. You crashed into the barriers barely 100 metres in. And the rest had been history.

10 months later, this - situationship? relationship? friends with benefits? gaming buddies who fucked on the side? - had you confused. Sometimes he acted like your boyfriend, having homecooked meals together and watching movies on the couch, his head on your thighs asking you to rub his hair in the way he liked. Other times he acted indifferent, giving you the cold shoulder at parties or the rare times you would join your friends at a race. And when you would be stressed about work he would appear as the caring friend on behalf of your now shared group, rubbing your shoulder and offering you comfort and advice. But the worst would be when he would disappear for weeks, obviously busy with work but would cut off all communication and you would be forced to stalk his fan pages to get updates and read rumours of all the models he would be seen with overseas - only for him to turn up at your doorstep randomly wanting to be let in. You tried to be mad each time, yelling at him to explain himself, knowing this wasn’t healthy, really you did - but it was hard to resist his oh so talented tongue when he would lay you back and whisper sweet apologies in between your legs, making you come over and over again on his fingers, then with his mouth and finally on his thick cock that you had ended up losing your virginity too. You hadn’t realized how attached you had become to the champion driver until you were on a group trip to Amalfi coast and were caught making out on a moonlit beach by a stray papparazzi, making Max freak out.

He had been the one to very clearly insist on keeping things secret - for both your sakes, he said - given his very public status and you had been happy to agree, being a private person yourself. But as time has passed and Max became the only guy you wanted to be with, you had started to assumed he had been feeling the same - judging by the expensive diamond jewellery he would turn up with to pair with his wicked apologies, when he would always be the one you called to pick you up when you were too drunk to taxi home, and in the quiet, domestic moments when you were curled up together he murmured you understand me in a way no one else does, liefje.

Apparently though, Max has not been on the same page at all, which he made very clear when he publically dismissed the multiple viral pictures of you two - which now circulated the internet as finally some juicy gossip about the unusually single F1 driver had emerged. All your friends had sent the interview clip to you, with Max’s clear dismissal of I don’t know really know her, just an acquaintance from my friend group. My priority is my career, not entertaining the fangirls, he had said without an ounce of guilt on his handsome face.

You’d been desperate to give him a chance to explain himself, thinking it was a PR tactic, but Max had been ignoring your calls for days and you ended up knocking at his door. He’d let you in with a sigh, watching your eyes fill with tears as he said it had never been that serious, c’mon baby, when had I ever said it was exclusive, just a bit of fun for you too wasn’t it? Got a good fucking from me and a bunch of Cartier jewellery. Let’s just stay friends from now on, yeah?

God. What a fucking prick. You made sure he knew it too as you screamed it at him before storming off. You still hadn’t fully accepted it, checking your phone afterwards and expecting him to call and grovel for your forgiveness, until your friend group’s Sunday brunch a couple weeks later, where Max had made a rare appearance - and this time, with a pretty girl you vaguely recognised from a magazine cover right by his side. You had met his eyes across the table briefly, looking for any hint of remorse but finding none, as he quickly looked away, laughing at the girl next to him. You fled straight to Bianca’s after, into her arms and sympathetic gaze as she rubbed you through your sobs. It took you weeks to get out of your depressive slump, your heart completely broken and humiliated publically. You promised yourself, you were never going to shed a tear over Max Verstappen again.

You were a young, hot, and very talented woman living in Monaco - and now that you were no longer hung up on Max, you were free to monopolise on your single status. Althought he has left you with a broken heart, he’d undeniably made you a lot more experienced and confident when it came to navigating guys - without become too emotionally invested, of course. You only needed to get your heart broken once to learn never to do it again. You traded in your cute conservative outfits for more trendy, fitted pieces that show off your body just right as you started going on dates with different guys every weekend.

After a lunch date earlier that day, you were walking into a friend’s house for a group potluck one evening, still dressed in an off shoulder summery minidress and kitten heels, with matching makeup done to complete the look. You’re absentmindedly replying to a text from the guy who had said he’d love to see you again when you catch sight of Max for the first time in weeks, along with a new girl you hadn’t seen next to him. Before, this would have sent you into a spiral, but now you just push down on any unwanted feeling and greet everyone warmly. Conversation is flowing, wine poured and everyone digs into dinner, and when the topic of dating came up your friends were curious to hear about all the dates you’d been spotted on recently. You start telling some of them one of the funnier first date stories where the guy’s ex had been bartending and he had been paranoid the whole night about being poisoned. At some point you notice Max has been glancing in your direction. You look back, raising an eyebrow to say What? and this time he doesn’t break eye contact, staring at you before slowly drifting his gaze up and down your body. You flush and turn around, ignoring him the rest of the night and also ignoring the butterflies that swirled in your stomach from seeing him. Fucking asshole, checking you out while his girlfriend is right next to him on the couch.

Max’s heated stares across the room continue at the next gathering and the one after that and you continued to purposely avoid him. And if anyone noticed that you were dressed in cuter and tighter outfits each time, in the pastel colours that you knew he liked with matching heels, revealing more of your tantalising tan skin for Max’s gaze, they wisely chose not to comment. It all came to a head at a party on Max’s yacht one weekend. You greeted him politely as you stepped on, having come to terms that you two ran in the same circle and had to act like civil adults. He greeted you back easily, arm around a different eye candy model this time. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at his usual playboy ways and went to go fix yourself a drink.

After you had all gone swimming and eaten dinner and were now relaxing watching the sunset, your phone dinged with a text to signal the arrival of Anton, who was the latest hire at your workplace and had recently been coming to a few events with your friends. He was also your newest hookups in your recent string of casual relationships - most of which had been average in bed at best, and you had your fingers crossed that Anton was going to deliver. Your group greeted him warmly as he came upto the deck, coming straight to your side and you leaned in to rest on his lap, all relaxed from your cocktails. You didn’t miss Max’s glances at Anton’s hands that lay on your thighs. The night went on and more drinks were drunk and people wandered off, yet Max’s agitated gaze was now firmly fixed on Anton’s fingers moving up your legs, lifting your skimpy sundress and rubbing your thighs. His own latest fling was completely ignored as she sat next to him, clinging onto his biceps. Smirking with satisfaction at having riled Max up for once, you excused yourself to head to the toilet downstairs.

You had barely entered the hallway when you were yanked into a side room and slammed against the door as it closed. Max?! you gasped, looking up to find his stormy blue eyes staring at you heatedly. You push him back with full force, What the fuck do you think you’re doing-

He cuts you off with a scoff, Oh, what I’m doing? You’re the one practically getting fingered by that fuckwit in front of everyone! He steps forward, now even closer into your space, and you can’t deny how turned on seeing him get all hot and bothered has made you. What, jealous Verstappen? Missed me that much? you tease. Too bad, you already fucked it up with me. Otherwise that could have been your hands on me instead.

Max looks positively murderous at your jab before a predatory glint emerges in his eye. Schatje, he says, making you bristle and demand stop calling me that but he ignores you. Schatje, you’re the one who wants my hands on her, hmm? I heard you, you know. Earlier when you were talking to Bianca about how none of the guys you’ve been fucking have been able to do it for you. Making you cum was never a problem for me, remember? don’t you miss it? Shall I fix that problem for you?

Oh, you do remember. For all his arrogance Max was an absolute god in the bedroom and you missed the sex dearly - and it seems Max had been missing it too. He easily lifts you up against the wall, your legs instinctively wrapping around him as trails his hands up your dress and you’re rolling your eyes and denying his words, telling him he was a cocky asshole and you hated him but not stopping him as his fingers slid into you, finding you already dripping. He smirks, all ego, but you quickly wipe it off his face by telling him it’s probably still wet from when Anton went down on me earlier. A complete lie but Max didn’t need to know that, did he?

And no one else needed to know that Max angrily swore at your lie as he pumped his fingers in and out of you, grabbing a hold of your tiny dress and whispering how you were such a dirty girl for wearing these slutty outfits and teasing him.

No one needed to know when he yanked his raging erection out his trunks and began thrusting into you, moaning in your ear about how you were just as tight as the first time he had fucked you, right here on the same yacht, and just like that night he’s going to make you come again now-

And no one needed to know that when you both emerged hastily upto the deck a while later, sitting down next to your respective latest partners but your eyes still fixed on each other, it was his cum that was now covering the inside of your thighs.

Once you had started you both couldn’t stop. Everytime you saw each other things got more and more out of control. A new influencer at Max’s side who was left alone when he fingered you to completion in the dark gardenshed outside a friend’s house party, his other fingers shoved inside your mouth for you to suck on and keep your moans quiet. An ex client of yours left wandering trying to find you, his date at his own charity gala, while you were upstairs riding Max on a plush chaise in the office up, heels still on and silk dress pulled up, making him swear in a way only you could get out of him as you took him in deep. You’d tell him you hated him, that you were only using him to relieve your sexual tension and he meant nothing and he would laugh, whispering in your ear Don’t lie, baby, I know you love this, your sweet pussy just needs my cock inside it, huh?

This went on and on for weeks, a twisted competition where whoever would concede first and drag the other one away was the loser - and you and Max both despised losing. It wasn’t until you were almost caught on camera by paparazzi yet again, this time in the back of his Aston Martin Valkyrie with your head between his legs, deepthroating him messily, using your tongue just the way he liked it- that Max freaked out again and demanded you two break it off at once. You’d rolled your eyes at his melodrama, thinking he was bluffing, but true to his word Max hightailed it out of a room the next few times he saw you, despite your best efforts at picking an outfit you were sure would make him crumble.

Time for you to up the ante, you mused. You weren’t going to stop until you walked away as the winner of this wicked game. You licked your lips as you devilishly thought up your plan.

Maybe this time you’d go flirt with one of his handsome driver friends and really piss him off?

—————————————————————————

A/N: love seeing requests you guys send, pls send as many as you want I need inspo!!! Hope you enjoyed this anon lmk what u think, will write Part 2 soon if u keen 🫶 soz I made it too long ahahah had to split it up

[sneezypeasy]

The Lightning Scene, How Azula Targeted Katara (of All People), and the Doylist Reason Why That Matters

Mention Zuko's sacrifice for Katara in Sozin's Comet Part 3 as part of a pro-Zutara talking point, and invariably you'll get a Pavlovian response of:

"But Zuko would have taken the lightning for anyone."

(Not to be confused with the similar-sounding Pavlovan response, which is "Zuko's sacrifice ain't shit compared to a mouth-watering, strawberry-topped meringue dessert"*, which is actually the only valid counter-argument to how the lightning scene is a bona fide Zutara treasure, but I digress.)

Now, I've talked in depth about how the lightning scene is framed far more romantically than it had any right to be, regardless of how you might interpret the subject on paper; this is an argument which I still stand by 100%. That Zuko would have gotten barbecued for anyone, and that he was at the stage of his arc where his royal kebab-ness represented his final act of redemption, doesn't change the fact that the animators/soundtrack artists decided to pull out all the stops with making this scene hit romantic film tropes bingo by the time it played out on screen.

(I mean, we stan.)

There's also a deeper level to this conundrum, a layer which creeps up on you when you're standing in your kitchen at night, the fridge door open in front of you, your hungry, sleep-deprived brain trying to decide on what to grab for a midnight snack, and quite inexcusably you're struck with the question: Okay, Zuko may indeed have taken the lightning for just anyone, but would Azula have shot the lightning at just anyone?

But there's yet a deeper layer to this question, that I don't recall ever seeing anyone discuss (though if somebody has, mea culpa). And that is: would you have written Zuko taking the lightning for anyone else?

Or in other words, who Zuko would have taken the lightning for is the wrong question to be asking; the question we ought to be asking is who Zuko should have taken the lightning for, instead.

Get your pens out, your Doylist hats on, and turn to page 394. It's time to think like an author for a hot minute.

(If you don't know what I mean by Watsonian vs. Doylist analyses, and/or if you need a refresher course, go have a skim of the first section of this 'ere post and then scoot your ass back to this one.)

So. You're the author. You've written almost the entirety of an animated series (look at you!!) and now you're at the climax, which you've decided is going to be an epic, hero-villain showdown. Classic. Unlike previous battles between these two characters, your hero is going to have a significant advantage in this fight - partly due to his own development as a hero at the height of his strength and moral conviction, and partly because your villain has gone through a bit of a Britney Spears 2007 fiasco, and isn't quite at the top of her game here. If things keep going at this pace, your hero is going to win the fight fairly easily - actually, maybe even too easily. That's okay though, you're a talented writer and you know just what will raise the stakes and give the audience a well-timed "oh shit" moment: you're going to have the villain suddenly switch targets and aim for somebody else. The hero will be thrown off his groove, the villain will gain the upper hand, the turns will have indubitably tabled. Villains playing dirty is the number 1 rule in every villain handbook after all, and each of the last two times your hero's braved this sort of fight he's faced an opponent who ended up fighting dishonourably, so you've got a lovely Rule of Three perfectly lined up for the taking. Impeccable. The warm glow of triumph shines upon you, cherubs sing, your English teachers clap and shed tears of pride. (Except for that one teacher you had in year 8 who hated everybody, but she's a right bitch and we're not talking about her today.)

Now here's the thing: your hero is a hero. Maybe he wasn't always a hero, but he certainly is one now. If the villain goes after an innocent third party, there's basically no-one your hero wouldn't sacrifice himself for. He's a hero! Heroes do be like that, it's kind of their thing. The villain could shoot a bolt of lightning at Bildad the Shuhite, and the only thing that'd stop our boy Redeemed Paladin Bravesoul McGee from shielding his foxy ass is the fact that Bildad the Shuhite has the audacity to exist in a totally different show (disgusten.)

But. You're holding the writer's pen. Minus crossover shenanigans you don't have the licensing or time-travel technology to achieve, you have full control over how this scene plays out. You get to decide which character to target to deliver the greatest emotional impact, the juiciest angst, the most powerful cinematic suspense. You get to decide whose life you'll put at risk, to make this scene the most intense spine-chilling heart-stopper it can possibly be.

This is the climax we're talking about, after all - now is not the time to go easy on the drama.

So.

Do you make the villain target just anyone?

Or do you make the villain target someone the hero cares about?

Perhaps, someone he cares about... a lot?

Maybe even, someone he cares about... more than anybody else?

You are the author. You are the God of this universe. You get to choose.

What would deliver the strongest punch?

If you happen to make the inadvisable decision of browsing through these tropes on TV tropes, aside from wasting the rest of your afternoon (you're welcome), you'll find that the examples listed are littered with threatened and dead love interests, and, well, there's a reason for that. For better or worse, romantic love is often portrayed by authors, and perceived by audiences, as a "true" form of love (often even, "the" true form of love). Which is responsible for the other is a chicken/egg situation, one I'm not going to go into for this post - and while I'm certainly not here to defend this perspective as objectively good, I do think it's worth acknowledging that it not only exists but is culturally rather ubiquitous. (If you're playing the love interest in a story with a hero v. a villain, you might wanna watch your back, is what I'm saying.)

Regardless of whether the vibe you're aiming for is romantic or platonic however, one thing is for certain: if you want maximum oomph, the way to achieve that is by making the villain go after the player whose death would hit the hero the hardest.

And like I said, this doesn't have to be played romantically (although it so often is). There are platonic examples in those trope pages, though it's also important to note that many of the platonic ones do show up in stories where a love interest isn't depicted/available/there's a strong "bromance" element/the hero is low-key ace - and keep in mind too that going that route sometimes runs a related risk of falling into queer-bait territory *coughJohnLockcough*

That said, if there is a canon love-interest available, one who's confessed her love for the hero, one who has since been imprisoned by the villain, one who can easily be written as being at the villain's disposal, and who could quite conveniently be whipped out for a mid-battle surprise round - you might find you have some explaining to do if you choose to wield your authorly powers to have the villain go after... idk, some other sheila instead.

(The fact that this ends up taking the hero out of the fight, and the person he sacrifices himself for subsequently throws herself into the arena risking life and limb to defeat the villain and rescue her saviour, also means the most satisfying way this plays out, narratively speaking, is if both of these characters happen to be the most important person in each other's lives - at least, as of that moment, anyway - but I think this post has gone on long enough, lol)

This is, by and large, a rebuttal post more than anything else, but the tl;dr here is - regardless of whether you want to read the scene as shippy or not, to downplay Zuko's sacrifice for Katara specifically as "not that deep™" because "Zuko would have taken the lightning for anyone anyway", suggests either that a) nobody should be reading into the implications of Katara being chosen as the person nearest and dearest to Zuko, so that putting her life in jeopardy can deliver the most powerful impact possible for an audience you'd bloody well hope are on the edge of their seats during the climax of your story or b) the writers made the inexplicable decision of having the villain threaten the life of... literally who the fuck ever, and ultimately landed on someone who's actually not all that important to the hero in the grand scheme of things - which is a cardinal writing sin if I ever saw one (even disregarding the Choice to then season it with mood lighting and sad violin music, on top of it all), and altogether something I'd be legitimately pissed about if my Zuko-OTP ship paired him with Mai, Sokka, or just about anybody else 😂

Most importantly c) I'm hungry, and I want snacks.

*The Aussies in the fandom will get this one. Everyone else can suffer in united confusion.

[egg-emperor]

The relationship of Eggman and his creations VS the relationship of Eggman's creations with each other

Eggdad and the eggfam has a ton of potential and interesting things to explore in fanon and not in the way people think. People seem to really be into the idea of it being this super unified thing where all the "members" fit perfectly into solid family roles and traditions and get along perfectly and literally just recreate the nuclear family structure. But it's so much more complex, unique, and interesting as a result. Not just to how they all are with Eggman but also with each other too.

Let's look at what we've actually got in the game canon so far. We'll start with-

The relationship of Eggman with his creations:

Metal Sonic has never once been called "son" by Eggman in a game. He has no known attachment to him besides bringing him back for convienience if he finds he can get more use out of him, but he's been more than happy to abandon him if he betrays or fails him.

Orbot and Cubot have also never been seen as sons of Eggman's. He's constantly yelling at them, hitting them, and threatening them. There's no fatherly bond, they're his assistants that he treats terribly.

In fact, as you see at the end of this segment, in the Japanese version of Sonic Colors, Eggman is heavily against the idea of being seen as Cubot's father. (But also Cubot has almost expressed attraction towards Eggman in Team Sonic Racing so it gets weird and complicated lol)

This hasn't changed since I made the above clip as he still treats them cruelly, even in front of Sage in Murder of Sonic

And this is clearly an aspect of their dynamic that's here to stay, as Eggman is even still whacking them around in TailsTube too

Sage is currently the only character where we know the familial aspect exists and is mutual. However, Eggman values her and accepts this dynamic for uniquely selfish and twisted reasons. Specfically for her usefulness and loyalty, how her skill can serve him well, and how he can take the credit for such an impressive skilled life-like creation, especially emphasized if he accepts the title of her father. His reasoning is quite disturbing really lol

It's a huge subversion of the traditional father and daughter dynamic in the way Eggman created Sage to protect him and serve as type of guardian for him rather than the other way around as a parent would typically be,

to the point she gets into danger and sacrifices herself for him and he lets her because it's specifically her function and this doesn't change even after developments

Sage is also still a servant/assistant to her master Eggman, she's mature and reliable and will get work done

(Link to translation here)

and so he promotes her to taking control of the Eggnet, a big responsibility.

She clearly isn't some immature child that needs her hand held and to be protected and coddled. He values her because she's so capable and useful to him and says so himself.

It's to the point that Eggman is the one who can actually be the irrational stubborn manchild throwing tantrums in some situations, while Sage is the more mature level headed rational one in those moments.

Sage is the very first creation he's called himself a father of and it was the best first choice that makes a lot of sense with his already existing character being considered and involved, rather than a complete change of his character and this is why it's great and works.

Not only is it not true that Eggman has ever felt a familial connection to any of his creations pre Sage in the canon games, it would also ruin the whole plot point in Frontiers of him starting to feel that way about a creation for the first time and processing it. This is clearly a first time thing for him.

So now let's talk about-

The relationship of Eggman's creations with each other

Eggman hasn't, and as far as we know, still doesn't see the likes of Metal Sonic or Orbot and Cubot as his sons. However, we do know that some of them seem to feel familial connections/at least desire a familial dynamic amongst each other that we know of.

As I showed above, Cubot did have a voice mode in the Japanese version of Colors where he would call Eggman his father and Eggman absolutely hated it.

In Rise of the Wisps, Orbot and Cubot express a desire to see Metal Sonic as their "big bro". Metal Sonic however, clearly isn't thrilled or into the idea, constantly looking pissed off to be around them.

Metal doesn't want anything to do with them and doesn't react well to the dynamic of seeing them like family, he's just like "whatever I don't have time for this" and focuses on the job that he's created to do, eager to ignore them and take off and get away from them.

Sage however, has expressed interest in Orbot and Cubot as being like brothers to her for being his creations too. Which Eggman half-heartedly went along with in a "I suppose so" shrug kind of way. Likely because he could see it made her happy and kept her loyal and useful.

But of course with all the examples I provided earlier in the post, he hasn't and still very much doesn't see them as his sons and still treats them terribly. Even in front of her, which is really interesting after he tried to entertain her desire to see them as her brothers before. Even that desire of hers doesn't stop him.

And lastly, it has been said that the "let's go dad" shirts Sage and Metal Sonic wore in Murder of Sonic were Sage's idea, so this tells us that Sage also wants to see Metal Sonic as her brother, which makes sense as she does with Orbot and Cubot too.

However, we don't know if this is mutual and if Metal wants to see her as a sister or not (for all we know, he could've been forced into the shirt by Eggman to keep Sage happy as we didn't get to see any enthusiasm from him lol) and this certainly wouldn't suggest how Eggman sees Metal still, especially with how he clearly still doesn't see Orbot and Cubot as his sons despite Sage wanting to see them as her brothers.

So yeah that's the current canon status of Eggman's relationship with his creations and his creations' relationships amongst each other. I think there's a lot of potential and fun ways to explore it without forcing them onto strict family role and tradition boxes because it's clearly much more complex than that.

They don't all see each other as family, Eggman doesn't automatically see and accept the idea of all his other creations being like his children too and some of them are even against the idea of being each other's siblings and don't get along like that. It's interesting to think about the difference in dynamics among each.

Eggman accepts Sage as his daughter but doesn't automatically see all the others as his children, while despite this Sage wants to see Orbot and Cubot and Metal Sonic as her brothers, and Orbot and Cubot want to see Metal as their brother but Metal clearly doesn't like the idea, etc.

There's also the potential complicated feelings and competition they could have against each other, especially when Eggman only sees Sage as his daughter and didn't see the others as his children before and so far it's quite clear he still doesn't see Orbot and Cubot as such even after Sage wants to see them as her brothers.

The ways Eggman could notice and exploit this to make all of them work even harder to please him to outdo each other, or possibly in hopes that he'll see them as family too if they're interested in that also has tons of potential. It's so much more fun than restricting them by putting them all in specific strict boxes.

Especially because not even the one dynamic that has the 100% known mutual familial feelings involved with Eggman and Sage are completely vastly different from the typical traditional expected dynamic canonically! I'd love to see more fanon not just embrace this but also the nuance and complexity between his creations with each other too. :D

[lacunammmm]

The League Of Villains Is The Most Irrelevant Group Of Losers The World Has Ever Seen, And Nothing That Happened After The First War Had Any Stakes Because Of It

Hawks killing Twice was a mistake.

It went nowhere, no one learned anything from it.

And as we learned from the final war arc, the villains are pathetic and can't score a single fatality.

NO ONE on the hero team got killed. Only villains died!

Hawks' actions look WORSE on that day. "Oh, but Twice was a huge threat!" Actually, no, he wasn't. He's a weak little bitch just like all his friends are. He could have executed Hawks' nightmare scenario of him cloning an army of high end Nomu, Dabi, and Tomura, and the villains still would have found a way to fuck it up.

The narrative would never kill anyone that the audience could begin to give the slightest of fucks about. The only people who died in the first war are were a bunch of filler characters invented just to get killed, and people with no real backstory or development at all.

Do you think anyone cared when Native died? Or how about Majestic, a character invented entirely for the war arc and given the role of being Momo and Setsuna's mentor, despite the fact that he'd never been seen before in the manga at that point, just so he can die and they can pretend there are stakes?

Eel Boy? Funk Man? There were actual characters who don't appear again to do anything of value in the series in the range of Tomura's Decay wave, but the author wouldn't let anything happen to his precious pookies, so they all get saved and he invents a bunch of nothing characters to die in their places.

X-Less entirely existed so he could die and deliver a Tetsuo style cape to Tomura. The man's life amounted to being a drip delivery boy.

The only reason Midnight died is because the author likes to mutilate and kill female characters. He realized that killing off a bunch of utter nothing characters wouldn't accomplish much and couldn't bear to kill Gran Torino after he drew Tomura turning him into a donut, so he picked Midnight, someone the audience could maybe care about but she only appeared in a handful of scenes and was there for Mineta's character development.

Notice how Kyoka lost an ear, but Deku's losing his arms got walked back in the next chapter, and the tease that Bakugo would lose his arm went nowhere?

There's no in universe reason for why the villains are so pathetic. They're garbage entirely because the author isn't willing to kill or harm his precious heroes, so he wraps them in mountains of bubble wrap.

Dabi couldn't even take out Hawks and Tokoyami when he had a type advantage against both of them, and flames that can melt steel in seconds. The guy bathed Hawks' back in blue fire, but only managed to damage his quirk a little.

I want to remind you that blue fire is hotter than lava. But instead of ending up requiring over 100 hours of surgery and having all of the nerves and flesh in his back obliterated, Hawks is just in some bandages for a bit and then he pulls through.

The guy doesn't even have to be rehabilitated. Nope.

The damage to his quirk is reversed by magical prosthetics that means he could enter into a battle with ALL FOR ONE with no apparent loss in power!

If the narrative has a character say "Oh, guys, I totally got weaker after my injury, trust!"

But then it has him fight the strongest villain in the series and the man who's slaughtered thousands by himself in a 2 vs 1 and the guy barely takes a scratch until AFO goes beast mode, why should we deny what's right in front of our eyes?

Hawks' damage was entirely cosmetic because the author likes him. And it means the villains are completely pathetic. This is a series where we're supposed to be worried that these bozos are going to kill everyone, while not letting them kill anyone.

It's a series where somehow, society had fallen to the point where it was total anarchy on the streets and THE MAJORITY of heroes quit…but coincidentally for the heroes, the League never attacks the specific places where their comrades are being held.

It sure is great for the heroes that All For one apparently couldn't be bothered to go spring all those PLF guys who certainly have…barely anyone guarding them because of how short staffed the country is at the moment.

In addition, as much as I like to harp on All For One's incredibly plot convenient "friends" who are apparently infinite in number and enable him to (ineffectually) have villains throw the entire planet into anarchy at his command all at once…

The heroes also get the incredible plot convenience of having infinite funding for all of their schemes, as well as infinite space and supplies for all the refugees who congregated in their school.

Would someone like to explain to me why and how UA high school is able to support most of the population of Japan and keep all of these people fed, watered, and sheltered? When NOBODY is going to work and everywhere is being evacuated? When they can't even get shipments from outside the country at the moment thanks to the state of emergency?

And they still have the supplies to manufacture all the stuff to:

-Make the entire school fly.

-Create the evacuation protocols for the refugees including the devices they were sending them off in.

-Supply their team with everything they could possibly need.

The author doesn't care to explain it and Momo's quirk is only used to create tiles to help fight "Tomura Shigaraki," not the rest of this stuff.

But I guess Nezu was preparing for a zombie apocalypse or something.

You know, Nezu. The guy who refused to entertain the idea that their school might have a spy and ignored the problem entirely.

Said spy was only caught because Hagakure happened to notice he was sneaking off to talk to his parents in the woods and he outed himself.

It sure is convenient for the heroes that AFO didn't keep both of Aoyama's parents as hostages, and that he had Aoyama out himself by having him attack Deku instead of just…waiting and having Aoyama open the doors of UA to them, or leak all their defenses.

It sure is convenient for the heroes that Shinso's quirk improved (off screen) enough to do exactly what the plot needed it to do and bypass AFO's lie detector abilities so he could summon his army into a trap that utterly destroyed them.

If we take the series at face value, everyone's terrified of Tomura, who has less than 100 kills. MOST of his kills were against MLA people who were attacking him. Something the heroes wouldn't actually know about.

The new symbol of evil, everyone, who regularly gets foiled by high school kids and then was murdered by the combined might of a bunch of 15-16 year olds.

I want to iron in something that illustrates how utterly worthless the League is.

Stain killed and crippled more heroes than the entire League Of Villains has. He killed 17 and maimed 23 to the point where they could never be heroes again.

Excluding All For One, of course, who got most of his kills pre-canon.

All For One's endless funding, a villain army, scores of Nomu, the All For One quirk, the MLA's assets being added to the League, and the brute force of Gigantomachia.

All inferior to one deranged man with knives and swords.

[waaaffle]

I think completely disregarding that Jinshi does engage in behavior we would consider problematic does a disservice to his character and eventual growth.

However, I do understand where people are coming from when they ultimately tune out all discourse because there has been such incredible mischaracterization on so many fronts that, when fair and valid comments do show up, they are already on the defensive. This may be the case because I have seen it with other characters before. Like if people weren't trying to frame him as evil, rather than flawed (like many of the characters in this series), then I do think more fans would be willing to engage in such conversations, but when we just had the whole age gap discourse where people continued pushing a certain narrative (even after being corrected) makes it clear that some fans do not necessarily care for having actual conversations, but rather want things to be black and white. And this is not to say that being defensive is completely okay, just explaining why I think people react a certain way.

Also, I think "red flag, green flag" discourse about such a series ultimately leads nowhere since I think the author portrays many characters engaging in behaviors that would not be acceptable today — or even at that time — in such a way that is fairly realistic to how people operated in a historical setting (of course some things are exaggerated for various reasons). I do think the selective hate about who is evil vs flawed because of said behaviors does get annoying at times (or people just straight up not paying attention to problematic behaviors that someone like Maomao also engages in).

That said, I really do enjoy this series and many of its characters. I think being honest about how all of the characters start out makes their development all the more satisfying. And I think we have to take a step back and realize that, before anything else, it is a story at the end of the day. 😭

[sapphicscholar]

Hacks Episode 4.05 Thoughts

Okay sorry for the deluge of posting tonight, but I wanted to be all caught up so that I can just go episode by episode moving forward! So on to yesterday’s episode! Everything under the cut to hide spoilers! (Also this got loooong! Turns out I have a lot of thoughts!)

As with last episode, I found this episode better on rewatch (esp. on rewatch going straight through from ep. 1 to 5), though it’s still not my fave. But I do find this to be true of a lot of post-s1 Hacks where the middle episodes, which often feel comparatively weaker on first view (bc that’s almost always when we’re viewing them in isolation as stand-alone episodes), end up standing up better on a season-long rewatch because they’re not always made with the pacing, stakes, and/or plot and character development that feel appropriate to a single episode, but instead with an eye to the season-long narrative. And I don’t think Hacks is alone in this! It’s symptomatic of a lot of modern TV shows, even the ones that get released on a weekly basis instead of in a single, bingeable go. Anyway, onward to the specifics!

On my first watch, this felt like we were stepping back from where we left off at the end of the last episode in ways that didn’t exactly feel right. The hospital scene, while not a fix-all bandaid, felt like an important crack in the armor, a move toward a truce and eventual reconciliation. And by the end of this episode, we feel wrenched so much further back (more on that later). But on second watch, knowing where the episode was heading and therefore not perhaps having my post-ep reactions focused on the end as the most recent thing in my head and therefore the most important, I was able to better see the ways that their interactions in the earlier moments of the episode are a little more cordial (not friendly! But less overtly hostile) than they have been. And the ways the data would have thrown Deborah for a loop do feel realistic and true to who she is, especially the version of her that knows damn well they “need a hit.”

But now that knowledge is also where the episode loses me. Because here’s the thing: this is (at least per the end of season 3) the dream for Deborah and Ava alike. No matter what Ava’s suddenly saying or feeling, in the very recent past, JPL had her telling the woman doing her headshots that this was her dream job. And we know damn well Deborah has been fighting for this her whole career. Now, don’t get me wrong! It may be that the dream is crumbling in live time, that the fantasy is revealing itself to be hollow. But it’s still a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity, and I simply do not believe that they’d be this unprofessional and this willing to risk it all at this stage, especially post episode 4.2. This isn’t to say I think they’d be roses and butterflies and rainbows—absolutely fucking not—but screaming at each other in front of a live studio audience? Deborah calling another woman a conniving bitch essentially on camera? And all this after she’d been so quick to realize they were being surveilled at Winnie’s? I’m just not buying it, man. Deborah’s not good with hecklers, no. But she knows how to perform even under duress. Think about the hug on camera. Think about her letting them smear that soot on her face and fuck up her hair in the pizza parlor. For better or worse, she knows how to push it down when the camera’s rolling, and that was just a fucking pizza shop opening; this is Late Night on a top network at the do-or-die moment with her own name, career, and future on the line.

The content of their dispute…sure? It feels like we could be getting a little more incisive about Deborah’s relationship to womanhood, feminism, and politics at this point, rather than retracing old ground about Panera people vs. intellectual no punchline jokes (which we *literally* return to with the reliance on the implicit punchline of a photo of Sweden), but imo the show doesn’t actually want to go there. Which is fine, but it’s just an interesting thing how the show continuously dances around the question of Deborah’s relationship to other women, but always stops just short of true critique by side-stepping the consequences. Like in 1.69 Million we get this question of ladder pulling that gets resolved by a one-off stunt. In the cruise episode Deborah announces she doesn’t hate lesbians specifically; she hates women, and don’t we all, she asks. But we breeze on by it with no narrative impact. We get Deborah making it part of her new act (how many women do you actually have to care about to be a feminist?), which gets played as a joke in such a way that it insulates her from immediate pushback. The college student arc gets played through quickly without our ever having to return to it. We have Deborah disavowing her womanhood in the opening press event, and now we’ve got women who (shocker!) don’t like her! And I get the jokes of “well did they ask lesbians??” but I think we can adore her the way we do only because she’s a character, not a real person, and the show’s polls exist in-universe where you know what? Deborah Vance does have a women problem. Now, I don’t need (and I really so, so don’t want!) the show to go didactic fiction on me. I’m not looking for Hannah Gadsby here! But I do think they had the door propped open for this to be a clash that takes Ava and Deborah’s differences and pushes them further, rather than falling back on well-trodden ground, this time simply paved with market demo research. Because as is, it feels like…well, we know Ava and Deborah can come to a compromise on the terrain of “funny enough to appeal to a big crowd without going for the hacky shit.” And yeah, it was for a differently scaled audience, but reaching this true impasse feels like it calls for more as narrative justification, and imo, some of this unaddressed baggage feels like a pretty easy inroad because you could reasonably believe that Ava’s been hanging on to a frustration about some of these past moments that she’s convinced herself are fine or something in the past, only to have this newest thing (Deb going “mommy makeovers” as this condescending attempt at appealing to women ages 25-40) be the spark that ignites it into a big thing—especially when she’s comparing it to the writing room she was just in (bc right now it feels like Ava’s sitting there comparing apples and oranges when she knows goddam well they’re two different fruits, so she just looks petulant af).

Okay, I’ve rambled for a looooong ass time here, so a few final quicker things:

Let Ava own her throuple! She can be thrown by Deborah’s presence, but I don’t buy that the woman who confidently told Deborah literally just days into knowing her that sometimes she needs a dick to come but the sexual experiences are deeper with women is gonna stutter and stammer her way through saying she’s a third. Especially not in the queer LA scene in the year of our lord 2025.

Also, I felt two different ways on first, then second watch of this ep re Ava’s two restaurant scene lines about the not knowing Deborah very well / telling Dev and Emily to wait for the show to get good to watch it. On first watch, they felt almost breathtakingly cruel—especially piling on the show comment after we’ve already seen the hurt on Deborah’s face after the first line lands. But on rewatch, especially, like I said, rewatch from the start, the first line in particular feels more like a protective barrier—Ava learning to put up her own walls to keep from getting hurt. She held out her heart for Deborah at the end of season 3, crying and pleading with Deborah to treat her better than the world (which they both know is cruel), only to have Deborah tell her that she was willing to lose her. And even throughout this season, we’ve had several moments where we’ve seen Ava at least try—even when it’s meant caring about Deborah as a person, not the show (e.g., rushing backstage during the panic attack and then showing up to the hospital and staying to make sure Deborah didn’t miss the premier even when she found out Deborah didn’t ask the hospital to call her). And, largely, Ava’s been rebuffed. (Which isn’t to say we can’t feel for Deborah, too! But simply to suggest that there’s a point at which you have to put on armor if you want to survive—a lesson Deborah knows far better than Ava.)

Also, Stacey’s final snap was well deserved lmao

Of course Dance Mom is dancing to Katy Perry’s heinous AI album ripppp

And Dance Mom, much like Deborah’s dancing, does feel very, very daytime, big Ellen energy (right down to berating the staff!). But I think it’ll be really fucking hard for Deborah to move on from the high of the crowd’s enthusiastic energy and response. Which is gonna drive Ava up a fucking wall. Speaking of…that final expression from Ava? I wish we had known what exactly Deborah was scrapping for Dance Mom because it feels like, if it were something Ava wrote and felt good about (vs more of the vaguely hacky pandering shit), that response would have felt a little more justified? As is, it feels like Ava’s hitting a breaking point that we don’t 100% buy. Because I’m sorry, but they did need a victory after the audience witnessed that screaming match and faceplant! You need a strong (and, more importantly, distracting) finishing act to come back from that, and jokes about Sweden just aren’t gonna cut it!

[stardewvalleybut-i-draw]

Can u give me ur full thoughts on Alex? I feel like a lot of the shit he gets is unjustified. Yeah he says some sus things to the farmer (no matter what gender you are!) but that's only because he's horribly mislead. The man just doesn't know any better. I mean think about it. Abused and neglected, lacking good male role models, and he's got no friends in town except for maybe Haley and you know how she is. If she was told "you're probably not into sports" she'd say "ew no" because sports would get her all dirty.

I always saw him as just a loner-type guy who doesn't know how to talk to people. Spent too much time trying to develop his cringe ass macho man persona that he forgot to develop social skills. I don't think that makes him a bad person though. I could honestly talk for hours about how toxic masculinity is a monster that preys on young boys and eats them alive if they're not careful. But even with societal pressure being so intense, growth is possible. Alex is still a massive sweetie in my eyes. A big dumb doofus who loves his granny and wants to lift heavy things just to impress you.

I would love your thoughts though!!

#1 Alex fan anon ⚡️

Yeah. That's basically more or less my thoughts😅

It honestly depends on what you experience that can greatly color Alex's character

This might be one of my more controversial takes

(right next to being a Clint apologist💀)

but stick with me here-

If you grow up in a similar environment to most guys, you can understand why Alex is the way they are. It's not exactly easy to be soft or mindful when you have a harsh environment around you. Many guys end up coping with repressed thoughts and feelings in unique ways to soothe themselves. I think Alex's was sports. (Idk just a hunch) but it often leads to a lot of blind spots or misunderstandings of the world.

I've seen a lot of people like Alex and I've had a couple of friends in high school like that too! And I can tell you... yeah... it comes from SOMEWHERE, A lot of them ain't doing so great mentally.

Heck, I do that! Whenever I get uncomfortable with a situation or feelings I don't like, I make jokes to ease my brain. Releses a little serotonin ya know what I mean?

Not all coping mechanisms are bad tho, we kinda have our own form of bond and support that from the outside looks cold and uninviting but I promise you, we would die for our brothers. (plus the cold uninviting part is just a front)

"I know the homie told us to KYS over Roblox but he bought the group Freebirds during the gym session so it's all good!"/j

I can't say much from the other perspective but I would assume they would see Alex as a HUGE BIG RED flag and someone potentially dangerous or someone who brings back bad memories which is why he is dunked on so much. Even if they don't mean it, they have a higher chance of hurting people.

I don't think Alex is THAT type of character at all, I think he has good intentions but as you said "no social skills". I can see why others would interpret that way though.

It's funny that you mention how Alex doesn't have many female role models cuz... you have

Haley- Lazy and super not into dirt.

His mom- got sick and DIED.

Granny Evelyn- frail weak old woman who makes cookies and tends to flowers.

Those are not exactly SUPER GREAT examples of women who like sports.

Personally, I get why people say that playing a male farmer is better for Alex's story arc along with confronting George about the whole being gay thing but I think the female farmer has elements that I don't think are acknowledged much.

From my perspective anyway, I think a Fem farmer shows Alex a better example of women and what they can do VS grandma, dead mom, and Haley... along with learning boundaries and how better cope with repressed feelings and MAYBE-

-even address the fear of the farmer DYING of a sickness just like his mom or the intrusive thoughts of believing he'll end up like his father making him overprotective and paranoid about the farmers well being...

but you can ignore that...

Idk man, that's just the way I view it. You either like Alex or you don't :/

I ain't saying anyone's wrong to feel the way they do

[itssoinevitable]

No idea where to put this but I’ve been giving the Audrey x Siegfried progression more thought. And tbh I am now quite convinced that we are unlikely to see any actual evolution of their relationship in canon — until near or at the very end of the show.

Bc I think the story some / all of us thought the show writers were telling vs the story they’re actually telling is actually quite different. The story that I, at least, thought they were telling, was that Audrey and Siegfried were becoming progressively more ready and getting to the point to eventually admit their feelings to one another. It seemed intentional especially in S4, and appeared to be escalating toward a realisation or admission of some kind. The tension, the jealousy, the pining etc. It was all so palpable and truly delicious, and felt like it was simmering to a boiling point.

Come season 5 however, that all came to a weird and screeching halt with the introduction of Miss Grantley. (Though to be fair, most of season 5 felt weird and quite off kilter.) The heat had suddenly dialled back to a warmish camaraderie at best, and tepid at its lowest points of the season. But Siegfried pining over this random woman he met felt even more jarring compared to Miss Harbottle or Diana or anyone else before, mostly bc it didn’t seem to align with this progression we thought was building toward the AxS endgame. It seemed so clearly against his feelings (which we thought he’d already woken up to) for Audrey, and therefore felt completely wrong and out of place. (This is the same man who looked like he was about to die at the thought of her leaving to marry Gerald, correct? The same man who toasted her before Jesus in the S4 CS right??)

So anyway, after much deliberation and thought about these two fictional characters, and in light of the PBS version of the episodes having aired now, I have come to a new conclusion. I now believe that the writers are not actually intending to write the AxS in a linear fashion at all, nor are they slowly getting them together in a glacial manner in the way we thought. I suspect they will eventually get together, but unfortunately I don’t know how much of that will be developed on screen. More likely, it’s going to happen close to or at the end of the whole series. And until then, I think they’re using AxS essentially as a kind of straight-baiting, for lack of better word choice. Because the writers obviously know fans ship it, and they play into the romance, but I’m no longer convinced that they have any intention to do anything except dangle the carrot in front of us.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that AxS haven’t progressed throughout the series. They’ve definitely come a long way, both as individuals and as a partnership over the years. Their deep and special bond has been possibly the most integral part to all these other positive changes in their lives. They are one another’s life rings in every storm, no two ways about it. The parallels with the actual married couple in the show are not accidental, after all. But as for a tangible, said out-loud confirmation of mutual romantic feelings? An actual kiss under the mistletoe? Or even the use of first names?? I’m sad to say, it doesn’t seem likely any time soon. (And I’d never be happier than to be wrong).

However, going forward into season 6, I suspect that we may get a few intimate / romantic scenes like we did in S5, and if we’re lucky, another handhold. We may even get a few jealousy scenes if either of them have other short-term love interests, which of course will not last. And we will definitely have sweet co-parenting moments, and lots of framed shots where the average viewer will be convinced they’re married. But suffice to say, it feels like a stalemate, for the foreseeable future.

And it does actually explain a lot of things. It explains why there are always minor love interests introduced for Siegfried, every season. And it explains why Audrey and Siegfried have not hugged, (or danced or kissed) nor moved onto a first name basis. It explains why Audrey has not had her own realisation moment yet, about her own feelings toward Siegfried. It explains why even though they are both finally single and emotionally available, they have not wound up in each others’ arms. Because those things would be linear, and that’s apparently not the story the writers want to tell. And unless there’s a definite shift in Season 6, I think this will-they-won’t-they dynamic will remain for as long as they can stretch it out.

All that being said, the point of this post isn’t to be a negative naysayer, I promise. I will be very very relieved to be wrong in all these predictions, and will happily eat my words. It’s definitely disappointing of , because what felt so intentional and well developed and had been so beautifully delivered by the actors, now feels a bit like a trick. I admit I feel a little duped, though it may well be (at least partly) self-inflicted. But even if we may not love the route they’re taking to get there, I am still at least, 100% certain that Audrey and Siegfried are going to be the final destination.

[buildoffshore1]

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[raikirikiri]

i think something that's so funny is like. kakashi is put in so many situations in canon and clearly he is not right but whatever. it happens. everyone you ever love dies? cool whatever. WHAT IF a bunch of people on the internet also gave you mommy issues. what if your mom was the snake man who wants to use your student's body as a skin suit? WHAT IF your mom was the moon princess who eventually tries to end the world? what if she super loved you though? what if you're actually half moon alien creature and perhaps even an abomination in the eyes of modern shinobi society? hm? what then gay boy?

if you would feel so inclined to humor a simple jester, imagine this:

kakazu vs kakashi. kazaku manages to get his creepy weird tendrils around kakashi's heart but because kakashi is half moon alien creature, kakazu perishes on the spot. one second 'ooooh i got your heart copy ninja oohh im gonna make this hurt copy ninja' less than a second later *ah echo sound effect* and suddenly he's dead on the ground in the peter griffin death pose. why? because he couldn't handle moon princess alien chakra. pure, unfiltered chakra not sullied by the mortal condition. and everyone just...accepts it. kakashi has no idea what happened and he's not going to think about it too much. in fact, even though kakazu was an enemy, his death via merely touching kakashi's heart fucks with him even MORE because what do you mean someone touches, someone WANTS him (in a very deadly manner, but i digress) and they DIE. he must be cursed.

but he just has moon princess chakra blood and that makes it dangerous for anyone to try and absorb his chakra, much like kakazu was trying to do.

fast forward kaguya, aka mother (in the rupaul (gay) way), betrays madara and stabs him and reunites with zetsu. and— oh! hello son! you do not look so good, have you been eating enough vegetables? i saw how you killed that fraudulent immortal! i was so proud. you so much like your father. he was such a dear but alas, he was mortal in the most pure sense and he cannot be brought back. but you have half me so it's not too late for you to develop your horns! you're basically a toddler still. oh mama loves you baby boy! now watch out, she's going to kill your friends and loved ones <3

or maybe she starts talking to kakashi through his dreams and that prompts him to learn more about her and the otsutsuki. maybe he learns to channel any power she passed down to him. or maybe he's just stuck with the information that he's the secret love child of an alien and never mentions it to anyone ever because in the grand scheme of things, he has a lot more going on in front of him.

[moonshynecybin]

rider moves and contract rumors, your ranking from most to least likely to happen (alternately, is simon patterson ever right)

thank you !!! truly contract season haunts my every waking thought there’s so many torrid little possibilities and it was supposed to be boring this year and instead it’s soap opera level bananas

jorge>honda

9/10. i think this one is gonna probably happen? like if it doesn’t then i think he skulks back to aprilia and is just kinda miserable with them for a year because they are a team with an abnormally high tolerance for diva behavior after tag teaming aleix and maverick for multiple seasons lol. and then jorge can pick a japanese team for 2027 so eventually it most likely happens anyways. but then with luca out i really do think the absence stars have aligned and it’s looking more and more likely as an option that is clean for both of them and makes sense. which wouldn’t make me mad really, except i don’t know where luca is going and that stresses me OUT !!!!! like if aprilia doesn’t want him i guess he’d be a brilliant test rider but :( lucaaaa… also i think it would be funny if they lost luca and suddenly realize that the bike is bad again

toprak>yamaha

8/10. guys i think lucy might actually let him kick the football lol… truly after all the recent reporting the only part where i was kinda on the fence about its validity was miguel oliveira having a two year contract on the books/jack miller being too good to be a sacrificial lamb generally (booo), but the race has some reporting from pramac that that second year for oliveira could be solidly in doubt, PLUS the pramac team boss confirmed they’ve talked to toprak… and all the previous rumors kinda came just from his own manager… which to me is much more indicative that the ball is in fact rolling down the hill. which is fun i wanna see him cope with our fuck ass tire situation let’s see if he can really play some ball. lots of ball metaphors in this section sorry but i love a juicy little unknown and i think having his loud mouthed manager in the paddock would be SO funny

pecco> yamaha

0/10 SO not happening any time soon it’s kinda funny that this has been circulated as a viable rumor in multiple journalism publications. like girl what. i mean not only is pecco on the record as saying that leaving contracts early divorce is something he deeply personally disapproves of, he’s ALSO invested a lot in this team specifically and has been a ducati fan since he was a baby little boy. and i think in generally he just doesn’t like the idea of “quitting” like if you gave pecco the option he’ll take noble suffering any day of the week… nail himself to that cross if he has to… like i firmly believe that if pecco leaves ducati, it’s going to be a decision FROM ducati, and he’s TOO valuable for bike dev in this current market what with bamboozling front end saves georg marquez over on the other side of the garage even WITH with the problems he’s having. and he’s not even THAT bad he’s just flopping by his own extremely exacting standards. anyways pecco will stay would be my read

enea>aprilia vs luca>aprilia vs ogura >aprilia

unquantifiable. see now here’s where i stare at the screen and steeple my fingers and wonder and hem and haw and then make some decaf and smoke a cigarette… if i had my druthers i think a luca/jorge clean swap would be ideal and luca would fit right tf in at aprilia and we would have a bez/luca teammates era that would be super fun for me AND marco bezzecchi, as luca’s methodical ass nature develops that bike into something more consistently competitive and honda is off spackling over the walls that jmartin punched through when he realizes the honda has mad chatter problems. that would rule. pbut then enea also wants to leave ktm apparently and it’s complicated bc he has a two year deal but the current situation is REALLY not working and enea probably has a higher results ceiling than luca BUT also isn’t that great at bike dev so. genuinely no idea lmao. i would hope they give luca a shot for at least another year bc it’s the cleanest option and let ai ogura develop some more on a more low-stakes environment at trackhouse, who seem to LOVE him and also just really need some good results in their pocket lol. but GOD who knows what’ll happen for real like i certainly don’t

[seventeenlovesthree]

Madoka Magica Ship Analysis - HomuMami

Based on these two polls [X] [X], I will write an analysis that'll also include how I feel about the ship (similarly to my Digimon shipping game analysis posts).

Disclaimer: I won't claim this to be a conclusive/definitive analysis of all of the ship's aspects. I have watched the original 12-episode-series and movies (including Rebellion), the Magia Record anime and I've read several manga series (the Original, The Different Story, Wraith Arc, Rebellion Story, Oriko Magica, Another Story, Mitakihara Anti-Materials). But I'm aware that I haven't seen/read all of what's out there and am also not thoroughly familiar with the games. Plus, oftentimes, ship dynamics vary depending on which series/timeline you are looking at. So this is going to be my personal take on it.

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

HomuMami is a very curious case in regards to a very common theme in the Madoka Magica universe: Namely that of painting them as polar opposites/antagonistic forces when it comes to colour schemes (purple/black vs. yellow/white) and attitudes... While also ensuring there are enough similarities between them in both text and subtext to make the viewer/reader ask: "Well, why didn't they get along better?" Thankfully, there is a (semi-)authorized spin-off manga that explores their complementary/similarity dynamics in great detail - but we will get to that later, as we shall focus on their relationship and its development in the main story first.

When Homura Akemi (or Moemura for short) meets Mami Tomoe for the very first time, she's a beacon of strength and confidence alongside Madoka Kaname - two "senior Magical Girls" with a positive and welcoming attitude... And while Homura is mainly seen hyperfocusing on Madoka at this point in time (and doesn't even seem to take much note of the first time Mami falls in battle), it doesn't seem unlikely to assume that this is everything she ever wanted: To have reassuring people around her, friends that are kind, patient and supportive, functioning as role models to look up to. As pointed out in the HomuSaya analysis, Homura was initially very wary of Sayaka for considering her a liability - but Mami, at least at this point in time, didn't give her any reason to question her. Quite the contrary - while it's never explicitly stated in the original series (we will get back to that later!), doesn't it seem rather peculiar that Homura ends up choosing guns as her weapons of choice after everything else didn't work out...? Granted, they are no muskets, but you get the idea...

It's not until Mami snaps upon learning the truth about Magical Girls that Homura's view of her begins to crumble. The kind, strong, invincible mask, the pedestal Homura may (or may not) have put her Senpai on disappears and, timeline upon timeline, gets replaced more and more by skepticism, mistrust - and an overall hyperfocus on Mami being the actual liability in the group.

When the viewers first get to witness Mami and Homura interact without knowing their backstory, they get a sense of... Malice between them, they definitely are not on good terms and see each other as threats. Mami is portrayed as righteous, the "good" kind of Magical Girl - whereas Homura is perceived as mysterious, emotionless and cold, only working towards her own objectives without taking others into consideration. Where Mami approaches Homura with teasing passive-aggressiveness, Homura responds with cool nonchalance. As mentioned, putting characters on opposing ends is a theme throughout the entire series (see KyouSaya for comparison). However, it's also a theme in the series to have the characters put on fronts and facades - and that is the case for both Homura and Mami on various levels.

Where, oh where does one begin to describe the similarities between them? First of all, there may be the fact that they're both orphans, both suffering from survivor's guilt - and that one of their deepest initial wishes once was not to be alone anymore. We see this with Mami desperately wishing not to fight on her own anymore after being the only one surviving the car crash after making her wish - she is yearning for company, even more so after the (temporary) loss of Kyouko's friendship, displayed by the eagerness to have Madoka and Sayaka by her side (in various different timelines). Homura (while still being Moemura) considered herself worthless and unable to fit in, imperfect, unstable, weak... Until she met Madoka. And Mami. And this is where things become rather tragic - because with Mami losing her mind in one of the later timelines, she may also have lost Homura's trust indefinitely. The person who may have been the perfect friend, self-confident, beautiful and strong, who may have helped to cure her own loneliness - turned out to be imperfect, unstable, weak herself...

Again, this has not been specifically mentioned, but Homura may have been incredibly disappointed in Mami - and thus ended up cautious of her in every timeline going forward. Unfortunately, she is also proven right most of the time - but also often shows remorse for "having been too late" (to save her as well; while Mami suffers from survivor's guilt towards her parents, it's absolutely possible that Homura feels similarly about all the timelines she had to witnesses the other girls - including Mami - fall).

In general, Homura's arc is constantly accompanied by Mami's fate being her own sword of Damocles. Homura's wish may have been to meet and save Madoka again - but to accomplish that, she also had to try not to fall into despair the same way Mami did time and time again. Mami may have been her Senpai and gun-wielding role model once - and now she's turned into a negative example of how not to end up. Hence why Homura is generally incredibly observant of Mami's behaviour - and tells herself that she "could never get along" with her, as seen in Rebellion Story. In her eyes, it would have been easy for any enemy (such as Bébé) to deceive and manipulate Mami - since she considers her to be just that desperate for love and affection. Tragically enough, this may have been her inner monologue at this point, indirectly showing just how much Homura may have related to Mami:

"You're soft, you are weak and by God, I cannot afford to make the same mistakes you did, so I try to ignore the fact that I must have been pretty close to become like you several times over once I let my guard down, once I realize how incredibly lonely I am as well..."

One could even argue that this is exactly why they're 100% on par during their fight in Rebellion Story - because Homura tried so hard not to fail like Mami that she had to become at least as strong as Mami's strongest self. And yet... Homura still underestimates Mami. As well as her own perception of her - because not only did she STILL care enough not to kill her when she had the chance... She also didn't see her final trick coming, because Homura's view of Mami, just like of everyone else, is very idealized/condensed. She formed her opinion of them through all the time-loops - unsurprisingly so! - and thus, everything that exceeds her expectations cannot be considered by her.

It may be a coping mechanism, it may be her way of protecting herself - and a certain sense of suspicion may always remain within Homura when it comes to Mami. However - some timelines show that things could have gone differently. Wraith Arc for example at least hints at Homura trusting Mami enough to let her show her how to use guns after losing her own abilities - while Mami has an absolute blast acting in very senpai-esque (and even somewhat flirtatious) ways again.

And then, of course, there is Mitakihara Anti-Materials - a somewhat comedic but very heartfelt story that focuses on the premise: "What if Homura moved in with Mami in one of the timelines so they could actually get to know one another and there is hope that, in this one, Mami will actually survive thanks to the bond they develop...?" While it absolutely IS more of a comedy manga, it allows both of them to breathe in ways we haven't seen before; Homura sees Mami's more ditzy side and, instead of just considering her a liability, sees her as a good-hearted, inspiring companion (even if her Tsundere-attitude doesn't let her admit that out loud). Mami, on the other side, discovers that Homura's cool exterior is also just a facade and that she may actually just need a partner to lend her a hand (or someone who helps cutting her hair, which, in itself, is a huge sign of trust). Between weapon cleaning, game playing, study sessions, grocery shopping and lots of food talks, they really seem able to let their guard down more with each other here, there is familiarity, softness, friendly bickering, even physical closeness. It's even here that Homura admits that it had been Mami's suggestion to use guns as weapons! Although Homura is always aware of the threat that looms in the back, always cautious, one can feel the hopeful note that, maybe this time, things will be alright. In general - as well as between Mami and herself.

In the end, just like with almost all Madoka Magica ships, this one is pretty much doomed by the narrative. The main story always has them end up clashing and opposing one another - even if there is still this little glimpse of hope that, maybe the reason why they never end up beating each other in combat, is that, deep down inside, they may just care too much, but aren't able to convey that...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

Without question, it may actually take something reminiscent of the timeline in Mitakihara Anti-Materials for them to work out romantically - because this may be one of the few, if not the only timeline that allows Homura to actually look at Mami beyond the rigid image of her she has created in her mind. Beyond all idealization as well as all the negativity. Instead, she may be able to see and value their similarities and how they complement one another, finding reasons to live aside from being Magical Girls on duty... It's a rather melancholic yet very soft interpretation of "a good end" for Homura where she doesn't hyperfocus on Madoka anymore and, thus, may not even get close to fall into despair. The same goes for Mami, who not only has someone to care for, but also has that same someone - who looks through her picture-perfect facade - care for her in return, without coddling, without beating around the bush. In a timeline like this - they may actually be able to rescue one another, learn to handle both their loneliness and survivor's guilt, accept each other's flaws with endearment and become domestic life partners (as depicted above).

In regards to the "original" timeline however, just like almost every other Madoka Magica ship, they may require a lot of therapy - to get over all the prejudice and resentment they have developed towards each other. With Homura being unable to look past (herself in) Weak!Mami and Mami being unable to understand and deal with Aloof!Homura, they need a lot of rekindling to overcome the mutual mistrust. (And if you take both Rebellion Story's and Magia Record's symbolism seriously, it's no surprise that they keep opposing one another - Holy!Mami and Homucifer may be framed to be enemies just as much as Madokami and Homucifer after all...)

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

I probably would never have grown as fond of this ship if I hadn't stumbled across Mitakihara Anti-Materials by accident. Prior to reading this manga, I thought the main fascination in fandom stemmed from their fight in Rebellion Story (and the potential sexual tenson/friction that comes from the enemies-to-lovers trope, including kinky power play with ribbons...). But now I'm seeing these two in an entirely different light - even the second season of the Magia Record anime gave the whole "Homura used to look up to Mami a lot" idea a whole new spin by ACTUALLY having her carry a part of her ribbon with her... It was the Senpai/Kouhai angle we hadn't seen to this extent yet and before I knew it, I was hooked on their potential dynamic. Once again, there are a lot of "what ifs" and "almosts" sprinkled in here, especially because the main timeline prioritizes the theme of mistrust and misunderstanding between them too thoroughly. Hence why it feels so soothing to read Mitakihara Anti-Materials, which gives them such a hopeful flavour, allowing them to pause, care about and appreciate each other despite their trauma. It's a lot of wishful thinking of course, but definitely the version of them I prefer as a romantic ship!

[fatcatlittlebox]

I had an ask about why there is a difference in the scene where Halbrand returns Valandil’s sword vs the scene in the forge that I just analyzed and I think it’s an important answer. Firstly, shots of hands always signify something in cinema. Where they are placed, who they belong to, what is being exchanged and even the movements. I could write a whole thesis on Spielberg’s use of it in his films. And it’s no different in TROP. Hands convey intention, intimacy, ownership, emotion. Alot. Charlotte Brandstrom was even asked about the closeup shot of Adar's hand in an interview. The reporter asked her specifically about the scene where Adar is planting seeds in season 1 and this is what she said:

CB: I always start, I mean, first of all, visually, I always like to start with a character moment and not with a geographic moment. I don’t like to find out where I am, but I want to know what it is about. So by starting on a very tight insert of the seeds, I make it mysterious, and I think it’s more gripping because you want to find out more, and it says something right away about the character. And then I cut to wide, and it’s a tendency that I’ve developed more and more, always starting small and going wide, because I feel you sort of grab the audience’s attention and you also, I mean, as I said, you create small character moments, and those are the moments that most important I think in the story. (x)

So there you have it. The director is straight telling you that if you seek insight into these characters, it’s in these small, close details. And they purposefully edit it to keep it ambiguous. Not because they want to keep it vague. It's because there is the suggestion that there's probably more than meets the eye. There are multiple clues and multiple layers at play. These visual clues are supposed to be revisited and reinterpreted.

I bring this up because those close up details are a key difference in the scenes. So, let’s contrast the two: one in which Halbrand returns Valandil's sword to him. It may seem the two scenarios are very similar but there's more to it. As I said --it comes down to the details. In this case, their hands. Notably, you never see their hands in the same frame of this scene. Not in a close-up. Not when the sword is exchanged. There isn't anything sinister about it. It's just not emotional or personal. There is no subtextual communication here between the Valandil and Halbrand. Because this gesture isn’t meant for him. It’s meant for the elf standing behind him. And Galadriel in the background isn’t coincidental. You see the camera subtly shift from right to left to catch Galadriel witnessing Sauron offer the sword. Again, this act is meant for her.

Later, with Galadriel in the forge, the context changes the whole subtext of the knife exchange. First, Sauron can’t help but draw her closer. So he feigns dropping the sheath of the knife so she rushes to his side. The proximity is intimate, charged. Then, there is the act itself of placing the knife in front of her. In the context of Galadriel pleading with him to join her cause, this gesture can be interpreted as symbolic of his acquiescence. A sign of his allegiance, his loyalty and ultimately a pledge of his life. But an added layer to this (after it is revealed that Halbrand had been Sauron), is the deeper, more earth-shattering meaning: he is offering to pay his penance. Sauron, repentant, apologizes in this scene. And this act is subconsciously meant as proof of his contrition. He was this close to facing judgement. Hers. He was this close to telling her and putting himself at her mercy, as if to say, “Here it is. The peace you seek. Seize this dagger and end it all. Take your revenge.”

Between this knife, Valandil's sword and all the way back to when Sauron returns her brother's dagger, he has been telegraphing his loyalty and allegiance to Galadriel every step of the way. That was no ruse. It was not a ploy. Whether this was subconscious on his part or not, his intention had been consistent and genuine. He was offering himself.

Instead, she counters his offer with one of her own. Not knowing she was increasing the stakes. “Bind yourself to me.” No peace shall be found except at her side. And Sauron foolishly convinces himself into believing that this will balance their scales. It is his arrogance (somewhat delusional) the idea that he could be the architect of her pain, and the author of her deliverance. And yet that is very in keeping with his hubris.

[lostpimplepatch]

ONE PIECE WANO SPOILERS FOR EP 1020

Sanji calling Robin for help in front of everyone is my favorite Sanji moment in this arc so far.

Like most of the fandom I have a love hate relationship with Sanji’s character because he has the potential to be a really well developed character but in many arcs ends up being a very shallow one. Coming off of Whole Cake Island which is a very strong Sanji arc, Wano felt soo lacking. His peeping gag was back, he was using the germa tech despite his conviction not to, he was insecure about Jinbei replacing him as the ‘smart’ one of the stronger strawhats. After an arc where our crew was separated and went through a lot for Sanji it felt like he was unsure of his place in the story and was revisiting all his “positions”.

Then came this villain Black Maria, who embodied and questioned the shallow aspect of his character and by extension his chivalry. She demonstrates that men like him are quick to think themselves heroes that save women from harassment and violence but internally want to inflict this harassment and violence on women as well. Sanji runs in thinking a woman might be getting harassed, beats up the guy, but when he’s escaping we see that exact scene is one of his fantasies. It’s legitimate criticism of his character. I wish it would be a learning moment. Sanji refuses to fight against women as usual and he’s put in a position where he can either die, call Robin and put his friend and a woman in danger, or fight women. This happens all the time but Sanji here makes the easy decision to cry for help.

What’s great about it is, this is an incredibly humiliating moment for a “chivalrous man”. We see a bunch of other manly men in the show react with disdain and ridicule at the fact that he would go crying for help from a woman, the opposite of “chivalry” in their eyes. Even the villain women working under Black Maria are shocked and disappointed because this doesn’t fit the “chivalrous” image. But Sanji isn’t giving up his friend, he’s not betraying her, he’s asking for help. Because he trusts her, because he knows he can rely on her. The key here being, unlike Black Maria’s expectations Sanji’s wish to protect women is not just to seem more manly and chivalrous. He would rather have the world think he’s a weak spineless coward than hit a woman. That’s in this context a rarer thing than to simply proclaim he’d rather die. It proves that his morals come from within and that he stands on them.

Robin, of course, shows up immediately, saves his ass and says “Thank you for relying on me, it made me happy”. This is what got me crying because Robin doesn’t think less of him for a second because their places have been swapped before. In water 7 and ennies lobby she tried to make the choice of dying instead of asking for help and putting her friends in danger. She saw first hand that that hurt them more than any buster call could have. It was her and Sanji on that train where she refused to accept his help and it did nothing but hurt them and delay the inevitable. She learned that day that she was worthy of being protected and that her friends would walk into a death trap for her. She was resolved to do the same. Of course it makes her happy to have the chance to do that for her crew.

On a side note, Sanji and Zoro’s views on women are often pitted against each other as “protect women” vs “view them as an equal” but this arc we saw Zoro protecting a woman that couldn’t fight (Komurasaki/Hiyori) and Sanji trusting and relying on a woman to save him in a dangerous situation.