#i mean i GET it but i feel it undermines the message a little

[yayll]

https://www.tumblr.com/yayll/759326311116308480/havent-slept-yet-but-just-as-i-was-about-to?source=share

Hi, this anon again😅 haven't slept yet again...it's 6 am🙃. I just love the idea that Dazai with all his godlike intelligence is the kind of guy to see immediately what troubles or struggles his significant other has with themselves or in general.

If you have trauma he will immediately catch on, self esteem issues? Immediately caught on, mommy or daddy issues? People pleaser? He knows it, and many other things, he will immediately figure it out as you both date.

He'll probably even do little things that you'd think he doesn't understand how much it means to you, like validating you, making sure you always have a specific comfort of yours at hand, you'd think he just does it because he saw that you liked it, but it was because he knew what it would do for you, what it makes you feel.

Dazai sees you and he doesn't just see your traumas and things you struggle with of course, he first sees someone he loves unconditionally. Dazai knows you love him with all your heart especially after knowing about his past.

Dazai will tell if you're sensitive, if you're uncomfortable with loud noises, if you get emotional about a lot of things, if you're lonely around people, if you're masking your real personality around other people, if you've only heard criticism instead of any praise, if you've been undermined and seen as a second choice, Dazai will know.

And he will show you from the moment he picks up on everything, that you're never gonna feel like that again as long as he's there, and he will always be there. He will validate everything you always wanted to be validated. Dazai from the Port to ADA is very much "gun is love, gun is life" to "what is gun, what is this metal thing that can hurt another human being!?" An exaggeration of course but that's how he probably would be even though he's joking, but the second someone tried to mess with you, suddenly every training he had in the Port comes back and he's immediately shown to be this incredibly intimidating and ruthless man to anyone who tries hurt you.

Have a beautiful forever Hun💖🥺 I know you said in the last message you've had a rough time and I genuinely hope you're doing better 🥺💖 a reminder that you're so amazing and you deserve the best, you deserve to be happy and i wish you the uttermost happiness and love and good health, you're still so incredibly young, you have so much time to accomplish everything or anything you want, you're doing well, get some sun, hydrate yourself, sleep the best you can(because I know sometimes we don't always get enough sleep) and eat well💖🥺

I'll leave these emojis for now so you'll know it's me next time😅

- 🥺💖

HELLOOOOO my sweet 🥹💖

i'm so sorry i have such a late reply! i've been working on some writing and also quite literally irl so i'm just trying to catch up. you are amazing and i'm wishing u the best of health and happiness right back :') love is all we rlly have in this world. things are a lot better lately on my end and i hope you've been able to sleep comfortably even if it takes u a while! MWAH.

and also. i just rlly wanted to indulge those lil things you said about dazai because they are sooooooooo true. sooooo fucking valid. GUN IS LOVE GUN IS LIFE TOOK ME OUTTTT LMAO i actually love the way u talk abt dazai's highly intuitive side, it's quite literally what makes him so compelling as is. and in a relationship/partnership? oh it's a goddamn dream. he's like a hawk watching and registering your every mood fluctuation and the cause of it, tryinf to see how he can rectify it immediately. and i also FIRMLY believe he will use any and all past PM training to facilitate ur happiness should he ever need to. he'll be like:

"Hey, take five. You've been at it for hours now and frankly, it's boring watching you work."

"I can't, I'm so behind on reports and I'm helping out with the agency holiday party, I also need to-"

Dazai's eyes narrow, and shakes his head rapidly. Mission accepted, he thinks. He knows what you need, and if you won't cater to your needs, he'll have to just do it himself. He lives to see you at ease, because you deserve the entire world. You will not, under any circumstances, be stressed under his watchful eye... And he also just really wants an excuse to cuddle later without having to hear about dumb things like work. It's a win-win, and you don't have a choice! He sighs, and puts on his little performance.

".. You expect me, the great Osamu Dazai, to simply watch as I witness my favorite detective work themself to the bone?! Absolutely not! I refuse. Come, we're going to the cafe downstairs."

You groan as he pulls you, smiling in reluctance.

"Dazaiiii, i'm serious.. plus, don't you have like, a huge running tab there?"

He flashes you a sly smirk and a wink.

"That's why I have you, silly! Your philathropic and generous heart is willing to treat me as your penance for being so stubborn. How noble of you. You really shouldn't have."

You roll your eyes, sighing deeply as you zoom out of the agency with him.

"The waitress there wants to kill you, you know."

You mutter under your breath with a playful smile. Dazai gasps dramatically and looks back at you, still holding you by the arm, tighening just a smidge.

"Oh, goodness! I'm quaking. well thank god i'm bringing you, my precious little scapegoat~"

Despite your feigned annoyance, your cheeks redden, and it's hard not to become endeared with how relentless he is in his pursuits to distract you. what a slack off, you want to kiss his stupid face until he shuts up. You might just have to.

"You're the worst, Dazai."

"Mm, what a weird way to say 'I love you.' I'll take it."

this is a silly little thing, but basically overly observant and on the case Dazai he just NEEDS to make you the happiest whether you like it or not!

i love u, mwah :')

-ivy

[runninguplenorahills]

Idk man, I said this before but I’ll say it again:

Saying “Mike is in love with the person who commissioned the painting/with Will’s feelings for him” is undermining byler and Mike’s feelings for Will!

Let me explain why:

When I talk about romantic love, right? You know what I’m talking about. And when you fall in love with a person, your friends might identify your behavior as being in love, etc. Simply because romantic love isn’t individual lmao. What I mean by that is that the feeling of being in love doesn’t change within each person! Of course it has its differences but at the core it’s all the same feeling! And feelings don’t stand on their own because of that! We all can feel feelings😭. We can literally have whole discussions about feelings because at it’s core we all feel the same thing when experiencing a certain emotion!

So when someone tells you how much they love you in the name of your partner, you’re gonna be happy about that because you think the feelings are attached to your partner! Someone could tell you the same exact thing in the name of a strictly platonic friend and you might get uncomfortable! But the feelings don’t change, it’s the person that does!

So apart from the fact that I think Mike has known LONG BEFORE the van scene that he’s in love with Will, If he didn’t know already and y’all think him being in love with the feelings Will has for him while thinking they’re from El (i also think that Mike understood they’re from Will btw) is good for byler…. Well, you’re incorrect💀. Mike’s not gonna be: “Oh so El doesn’t actually feel that for me? Guess I’m in love with Will then”�� like bffr😭

Mike is not in love with a feeling someone else has for him, he’s in love with a person!! And if you think Mike actually thought Will was talking about El and it made him that happy, that means Mike was happy because it came from El, meaning he’s in love with her and then finding out that El doesn’t love him wouldn’t change that he’s still in love with her! This whole take is super ant!byler.

Take “Little Women” for example. Jo loves Laurie platonically! But Laurie falls in love with Jo. And Laurie confesses to her but she doesn’t wanna know. She doesn’t want him to be in love with her because she loves their friendship and doesn’t want it to be ruined. And Laurie tells her how he feels but that doesn’t change anything because what matters is the person and not the feeling! Jo doesn’t love him but Laurie continues to love Jo! Jo then meets Friedrich in New York and falls in love with him and what he feels for Jo is the same feeling Laurie felt for her but Jo accepts it from Friedrich because she loves him too! Both men were in love with her but she didn’t like hearing it from the one whose feelings she doesn’t reciprocate!! It made her super uncomfortable!

If Laurie had said the same thing he said while confessing his love to Jo in Friedrich’s name, Jo would’ve loved that! She would’ve been so happy! Because she thinks the feelings are Friedrich’s! Because she loves Friedrich but not Laurie! She’s in love with the person the feelings are attached to and not with the feelings on their own because that’s something that isn’t specific to one individual! And the same goes for Mike!

And my additional message is:

Mike isn’t oblivious to his feelings! And he isn’t bad at emotions either! Mike knows what he feels and he knows how to articulate it, and when he doesn’t do that it’s not because he doesn’t know how to! It’s because he doesn’t feel safe to do so. Mike already knows that he’s in love with Will! Not knowing it makes no sense for his character or his and Will’s dynamic! Mike is really observant and he knows what he feels! Mike understood Will in the van but was later on lead to believe that he misunderstood! Since the monologue Mike’s been under the impression that El actually commissioned the painting. He currently thinks that everything Will said wasn’t coming from him but from El and yk what? MIKE AND EL AREN’T TALKING! Mike isn’t talking to El either! He isn’t eager to discuss the painting with her because he’s disappointed that it’s from her! And furthermore he feels even more guilty now for not loving El the ways she wants him to. At first he thought it all came from Will and that’s what made him so happy! Because Mike is not in love with a feeling, HE’S IN LOVE WITH WILL AND HE KNOWS IT!!!

Mike is not going to be dumb and oblivious when the painting reveal happens! He’s not not gonna get that Will was talking about himself but he’s not gonna allow himself to entertain it again. It’s kinda like with Will. Will isn’t dumb either. He isn’t completely oblivious to Mike’s feelings for him but he doesn’t allow himself to hope because of how that turned out last time. Mike and Will aren’t stupid. They’re afraid! And so when Mike finally fully knows that the painting and what Will said in the van weren’t from El either, he’s not gonna be hurt that Will lied about it coming from El and be oblivious about it actually coming from Will, he’s gonna be hurt because Will had to lie about it all in order to make him feel better. He had to lie because there isn’t actually anyone that needs Mike. And Will “knows” that too. It’s this lying and sugar-coating and giving false hope that’s gonna push Mike over the edge because the whole painting situation combines and feeds into everything Mike is insecure about.

[squishosaur]

i loev your art style so much and your azujamil comics are so cute <33 do you have any hcs for them that you havent drawn out before ?

uwahh thankies,,, they are everything,, i do have so many hcs for them....

azul acts very confident all the time, but he's insecure about his body. jamil, however, likes to snake his arms around him whenever they're alone and tell him how pretty he is.

jamil likes cooking for azul, if he's feeling nice, you'll find some scalding sands dishes on the lounge menu as weekly specials.

azul's terrified of flying; jamil feels more free in the air. azul will go flying with jamil sometimes. Rarely. but he clings on so tight and won't let go even after they land again. jamil teases him about it, but tends to fly lower so azul's not freaked out.

on the flip side, jamil doesn't know much about the deep sea and is fairly weary of it. if they go out swimming, azul will revert to his mer-form and hold him close for a little while as he adjusts.

i know i just made a comic about azul serenading jamil, but i wanna reiterate that i think he'd play music for him. nothing too crazy, but he'd play piano for him.

azul will make mocktails (since the mostro lounge is at school and he cannot serve alcohol) and name them after jamil. jamil does not appreciate this.

neither is big on pda, but they'll hold hands when they're alone.

when azul is jealous, he will literally do anything to get jamil's attention. Literally anything. he'll make a scene if he has to. jamil thinks this is so embarrassing and tells him that he's going to break up with him.

when jamil's jealous, he'll start plotting things. he has to undermine azul's business plans in secret and plot a murder. he never goes through with this. however, if someone comes on to azul, he might grab him and kiss him on the mouth just to get the message across. azul is More than okay with this.

jamil is multilingual and will randomly call azul both petnames and swears/insults in other languages. azul has to use context clues to find out what it means though.

while i think azul would try and fail to ask jamil out first, i think he'd be the one to propose in the future.

jamil would love thrill rides and haunted houses in order to feel something. azul would act casual about it and start screaming and crying.

their dates would be scarce and would usually be just hanging out to play a strategy game or cooking together. sometimes they watch and discuss movies. mostly, their "dates" are unplanned and involve chasing kalim or floyd or trying to fix problems that they cause ajdndnd

azul knows absolutely Nothing about basketball, but will watch the games and cheer literally any time jamil has the ball. he firmly believes that jamil should be allowed to kill people in this game.

azul likes to compliment jamil and is extremely verbally affectionate. when jamil compliments him though he totally melts.

azul likes their outfits to complement each other, so sometimes jamil will wear silver accessories or azul will wear golden ones.

speaking of clothes, jamil will wind up taking any sort of jacket or long sleeved shirt azul has at Least once. they're a little big though,, azul will take jamil's clothes too (not to wear though) and likes getting his things back from jamil because they "feel/smell like him." jamil finds this so crazy but like Whatever, he guesses.

like he does with other people, jamil will let azul win at things (arguments, games, etc.) azul does not like this and says that he has to take things seriously, only for jamil to beat him at it. either way, he fusses for a little bit.

azul cannot dance. jamil LOVES dancing. he teaches him, but azul is still soso bad. azul prefers ballroom dancing because it looks refined and elegant. jamil indulges him in this but sometimes adds a more hip hop spin to the moves.

azul is Always trying to impress jamil and is always visibly impressed by jamil. jamil does not try to impress azul and does not always make a big show when he is impressed. he will smile, azul swoons at this.

[ravencromwell]

Current Shades Of Magic question haunting me: was Maxim Maresh working a deal with the Danes to make something comparable to an Inheritor for Rhy? (And by "working", I mean: he thought he was being real savvy while the Danes lied through their teeth for years and kept the credulous arnesian king on a fish-hook while they figured out how to rip a hole through time and space.)We know Tieren flatly refused to help him make one, and that Makt is highly skilled in binding magic. And Maxim's entire White London dynamic, especially in Darker Shade, never made a bit of fucking sense to me. Take, as exhibit 1: "Holland delivered a letter yesterday," explained the king. "But couldn't stay to collect the response. I told him I would send it back with you. Kell frowned. "All is well, I hope," he said carefully. He rarely knew the contents of the royal messages he carried, but he could usually glean the tone—the correspondences with Grey London had devolved to mere formality, the cities having little in common, while the dialogue with White was constant and involved and left a furrow in the king's brow." In scrupulous fairness, Schwab does give us an explanation for the involved nature of the letters, saying that the Red Crown was haunted by its decision to seal the doors between Red and White; that they wanted to provide magical advice as a kind of recompense and reparations. But we're also provided a very plausible explanation for how Vitari helps Lila move through the worlds, which gets very undermined by Lila as Antari. And living in the midst of the most nakedly imperial power of our modern age, I'm incredulous at best and scoffingly dubious at worst. With some very! rare exceptions, large, prosperous countries give small struggling ones shit either to look good, or because they want something out of the exchange.

Was it being _haunted that made Maxim Maresh send twelve-year-old Kell into the middle of a very violent country? Or was it _knowing by that time that Rhy most likely wouldn't be manifesting any magic. Kell says to Vortalis that this will be the beginning of "re-opening relations". Which makes sense, seeing as Antari are a dying breed, and Arnes hasn't had one for a while and Makt for even longer. It's not Maxim's bad parenting in sending Kell to White so young that has my antennae raising, but the bad diplomacy. Maxim's Kell flaw, after all, is that he sees him more as a political and propaganda tool than a person. And he's letting him go to Makt at twelve? When Kell could die, and a large reason Faro and Vesk are in line right then is because they believe Kell is integral to Arnes strength. I don't believe Maxim Maresh, who had the political cool to immediately think of how Faro and Vesk would react and demand secrecy about Rhy's near-death in Conjuring while everyone else is in knots of grief and he must be pushing down his own feelings with herculean effort decided to resume communications to salve his conscience. It just doesn't fit with the rest of who he is as king.

But, as several people wonder when Tieren chastises Maxim over the Inheritor: what wouldn't a father do for his son? Put his other son in jeopardy, if he thought he could make an attractive enough offer to get a (probably) ruthless king of a ruthless people to make him something? It would certainly line up with what he does throughout the series.

Finally: Maxim is adamant that "The Danes will pay" before he learns they're dead. Except seriously? How, Maxim? You planning to send the Antari who they already used as a pawn back as a one man army? Because no one else is going through.

Maxim Maresh, for all his faults, is too good a soldier to send Kell into that battle. So, either he's just blowing off steam and the threat has no teeth, or the threat has vicious teeth. Because the Crown has been sending the Danes advice: maybe instructions on relatively—to Arnesian thinking—small elemental magics like minor water redirection that have become integral to Makt's irrigation under the Danes, or something else entirely. There are a million little ways the Crown could've been helping; the question is _why. Why, in Darker, did Maxim, a a busy man, concoct a thick response within a day and send his best weapon into a violent place _after _dark when it could have waited till morning. Feels to me like a man hurriedly running after something the Danes are always "close to finishing" and that he wants, very, very much.

[celestiall0tus]

Hello. In all honesty I am mildly concerned about the Syren's Song changes, namely for the racial aspect, how almost every white character is a hero and almost every character of colour is a villain. I kind of had lately similar feelings regarding Bloody Bug, but didn't voice it because it was the only case in your works, and now, sorry but it is starting to be a tendency.

What I mean with Bloody Bug is that characters of colour are either being depicted as savage and dangerous (Alix herself, Marinette, Kagami) or removed from picture with an effort (Nino who was turned into a coward who fled the team, Kim and Max who are barely present), while white characters are either without real flaws (Adrien, Sabrina, Luka, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Mylene) or redeem far faster than characters of colour (Chloe, Felix, even Lila who now is said to be better than Marinette despite they did the same thing, as well as Alya at some point being presented as worse than Chloe when her only fault was a petty misunderstanding). The way Alix needs specially white and only white friends to "civilize" her "monstrous, uncontrolled" Arabic self (while her best friends in canon were supposedly Kim and Max and probably Nathaniel) does have bad implications.

As someone who liked a lot your works before, I want to believe in your good intentions, and for this reason am informing you on how it looks from a side. Please try not to repeat the same mistake with another project.

Please don't take it as a personal offense.

There is so much to unpack, but let's get into it.

I'm prefacing this now. Call me ignorant all day everyday for it, but when I write, I don't always see color. I write first for the characters and how their stories should be.

The changes to Siren's Song come from the underlying message I mentioned in a previous ask being how fast to be change, how much do we change, and what do we keep. The villains are people that are in favor of a new age of technology and ideas. The heroes are a mix of people that are in favor of it, but want to keep aspects of the past as Grandeur would seek to completely erase the past as she sees humanity's greatest frailty that we'd rather hold onto past happiness than face future uncertainty.

Bloody Bug now is where I take personal offense admittedly. I'm writing teenagers. 13-15 year olds. These are the worst of the worst, a mix of hormones, wild emotions, and thinking they know everything, but they don't. If they are adults, I'd accept those views, but you are severely undermining a lot of Bloody Bug itself. Especially with the mental health problems these characters suffer from.

Alix suffers from abandonment issues that manifested as rage because that was how her mother handled her own problems. Alix guarded herself in a similar manner to keep herself safe. If not for her father and even Tikki, she wouldn't have opened up. She wouldn't have the base of her support system. There's also the fact that her only real friend that helped to quell that anger until her breaking point was Adrien. She had friends, but they weren't Adrien. Her arc was learning to move on. It was only once she had her death experience that she fully changed. You really are giving a little too much credit to her group of friends for quelling the anger she harboured.

Marinette suffers from OLD, obsessive love disorder, spurred on by a celebrity crush. And this disorder is fueled by the antagonist, Mayura, who is a manipulative bitch. Marinette is a victim twice over and it won't be until after the season 3 finale and beginning of season 4 that Marinette would finally be able to start healing.

Kagami is brainwashed and conditioned to do as she's told, following the "we follow orders because we choose to" crap from canon. She is seen as extreme because her mother instilled it into her that she must do whatever it takes to get what is hers. This comes into conflict when she starts to fall for Felix, causing a mess of problems for Kagami as she's fighting against what she wants vs what her mother expects.

Nino I can see why people would paint him as a coward, but when you consider going from Hawkmoth's stupid little villains to literal evil incarnate is enough to make any sane person shit their pants. Especially when faced first with a nightmare ghoul and a damn near literal wendigo (those fuckers are terrifying). There is honest real strength in admitting when you aren't strong enough to face down something. And that is something we should normalize more, even if it will paint us a coward.

Kim and Max have had little need to be in the story outside of the canon plotline of Kim trying to get with Chloe. Ivan may be in the story a touch more, but more as he is just there.

Luka I'm insulted by. This boy is flawed. He suffers from some forms of social anxiety and has a similar story as Hana-chan from Fruits Basket with similar ESP powers. Where Hana could hear thoughts (I think), Luka can hear music, causing a lot of sensory issues for him as well. It's caused him to be withdrawn, passive, and dreading social interaction. The only way he's really able to step out of his shell is when he's with Juleka, someone who is his rock.

Chloe is redeemed "faster" because she gains a support system and the wonders that a support system can do for a person is astounding. I wouldn't be here as myself if I didn't have my support system when I was younger. It makes all the difference in the world.

LIlia is still a liar and still lying through her teeth. Yes, she's moved on from Adrien, but that by no means makes her better than Marinette. The fact that Nathalie recommended her is the first hint.

Felix isn't like canon. There's not much there to redeem. He's a lot like Alix. A kid that is suffering from anger issues over a dead parental figure. Again, it was that support system of Alix and mostly Adrien that helped him.

Alya was worse because it was through Alix's eyes. That's the thing with close 3rd person. You may see everything going on and not directly in the person's eyes like 1st person, but you don't know everything. Because this is from Alix and Adrien's close perspective, there will be a lot of things you guys don't know until Alix and Adrien know it.

I know you say no offense, but I will be honest. I take personal offense that the mental health issues these characters suffer from are being written off as they are. I understand that everyone interrupts art differently, but this still bothers me.

[hopeymchope]

I am INCREDIBLY disturbed by the amount of people I see championing the horrifying act of suicide that recently occured outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C.

There are people acting as though this should be celebrated and remembered, claiming it's a valuable "sacrifice." Like it's "heroic" — as if this guy (whom I will not be naming here) was standing in a war zone and shielding Palestinian children from IDF bullets or something. As if he was hurting ANYONE who is party to the atrocities he's protesting. Even much-depised suicide bombers accomplish more with their terrorism than this act ever will.

There is NO value in suicide. There is only mental illness, abject horror, and everlasting trauma. There is only the anguish and eternal torment of everyone who ever cared about you, everyone who bore witness to what you did. To celebrate and champion this? Is a selfish, malicious act — one that will cruelly damage many people who need love and support. One that could definitely encourage similar, senseless deaths.

In fact, that is ABSOLUTELY happening. Because of this I am literally seeing people on this very site who are openly considering suicide and openly being encouraged by others to do it. Which is sick shit.

But very, VERY importantly? It actively hurts the cause it claims to be drawing attention to. Because it makes the protesting side look insane and unhinged. With his horrifically awful act, this man brutally undermined the thing he claimed to care so much about. And beyond that? His act of protest did nothing but EXPAND and EXTEND the reach of the horrific violence he claimed to be against. The result is akin to watching someone "protest" what's being done to the children of Gaza by shooting a random baby in the fucking head on the streets of Albuquerque.

What do you think you did? What do you think you accomplished? You spread violence, you scarred everyone around you, you horrified and devastated everyone you know, and you made your side of the argument look awful. THAT'S your impact. THAT'S the attention and message you spread.

But then, that's what this level of depression and mental illness does to a person, isn't it? You lose sight of your own value, you are unable to comprehend what you're doing, and you ultimately do nothing but destroy yourself unless you can get the help you need/deserve. And that's pretty scary. I've been there before. I even had some of these urges before — to unalive myself "for a cause." But I'm SO glad I came out the other side of it. What a waste that would've been. What damage I would've done to everyone I know.

This is a horrible tragedy... and perhaps the saddest part of it is how little it will even matter. People will remember what's currently happening in Gaza for decades, maybe centuries to come. But this act? No one will remember this except, perhaps, as a piece of disturbing trivia. "Can you fucking believe this psycho?" THAT'S the only legacy of this that will ever, EVER matter outside of this poor man's family.

I wish I had some idea of what COULD make a difference in Gaza. It feels pretty helpless to be this far from where all that horror is unfolding on the Palestinians who live there.

If you love this act? If you think it's valuable and/or admirable? I am begging you to reassess your thought processes. If you claim you want to protect innocent lives? Remember that that doesn't just mean the lives that are abroad, and it doesn't just mean protecting the neurotypical. It means valuing and protecting the lives of yourself and those around you, too. Including neurodivergent people who're struggling.

Value lives by valuing your own. Fight violence by not committing violence. Combat horror by not spreading horror. Show love and care for others by caring about how your actions will impact everyone you know.

And if you feel like this kind of act is a good idea for you? There's help. There's ALWAYS other options. And there's ALWAYS a better way out — even if it may seem like there isn't.

I realize people sometimes think they have no other escape. But if you're willing to consider escaping by completely giving up on ever living, then you damn well have to consider every possible alternative first. Cutting off your family, running away, starting from absolute scratch; anything else is better.

[canonizzyhours]

It was hard for me to watch the crew rallying around Izzy in the early episodes of s2 because, from a viewer's perspective, it didn't feel earned to me. If you watch both seasons back to back it's a kind of whiplash between Izzy being the guy who repeatedly tried increasingly shitty and destructive means to undermine Ed's growing relationship with Stede, culminating in verbally abusing Ed until he snaps in s1e10, which is demonstrably what Izzy wanted to see - Ed here responds with a violent intimidation because it's been made clear to him that (ostensibly) that's the only thing he has of value to give, and Izzy gives him validation for it. He's being a nasty little fucker who's willing to manipulate his boss when Ed's at his lowest point to get what he wants out of him, and clearly doesn't have the emotional intelligence to care about what this might do to Ed's feelings, let alone how it might be impacting Izzy himself adversely later on down the line.

So to jump from Genuinely Delighted at Having His Toe Cut Off Fucked Up Little Guy Izzy to group hugs from everybody because he's clearly hurting so much at the top of s2 was jarring. Don't get me wrong, I understand the why of it from a Watsonian perspective: in-universe, nobody else in the crew knows that it was Izzy's prodding that led Ed to snap and go dark how and when he did, so it stands to reason that they'd see he's at least as overworked and stressed as the rest of them and try to reach out. There's no reason for them to blame him for anything that's gone wrong here, and that explains why some crew are hesitant to offer the same grace or clemency to Ed. But as a viewer, it hurts. I appreciate the message that you don't have to earn kindness, and that sometimes being kind to somebody is less about them deserving it and more about the people being kind needing to do something to feel better themselves, but I do wonder if things would have been different if the crew knew what the audience knows here, though I can't just now think of an organic way by which they would have.

ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, the worst thing about that jump between s1 and s2 for me wasn't that the writing was... very likely a bit compromised by the time and budget constraints and to that end I'm not mad at the show about it, but I just knew when they released that clip of Izzy getting a hug from Fang that a small, very vocal section of fandom would take all the wrong messages away from this and I'd have to mute SO many words and names and users on twitter because of it

#53.

[luck-and-larceny]

Def would go with Malika for a dating sim :D but same question! What would the paths look like on yours?

Oh, boy! Your post was so good for this that I'm feeling a bit worried mine will be a letdown. -rolls up sleeves- I'll see what I can do! This answer is also for @tendollarshoes who messaged me asking about the Saachi route. :D Thank you both! I'm going to write this as though this is an actual game... SAACHI

Pros:

-Romantic -Genuine and honest -Compassionate and caring -Will battle the gods themselves to protect you if she loves you -Is very easily impressed and touched by romantic gestures -Will reciprocate with cute, romantic gestures herself -When she is uncertain about something, she is very willing to listen to and take advice -It will be obvious when you have chosen the wrong answer. -RP adventure side-quests: On certain dates you could be presented with scenarios where there is a conflict that requires heroic intervention. These events will allow you to solve them in different, unique ways depending on what your high stats are. Cons: -Suffers from some pretty significant bouts of insecurity and indecision seemingly out of nowhere -Throws herself into danger over and over; not the option you want if you don't want to worry about the safety of your partner -Her compassion is not boundless; it can waver into frustrated, snarky sarcasm when she feels pushed too far. -Stubborn. When she's uncertain she listens and takes advice. When she's made up her mind, there's absolutely no chance of changing it. -The more wrong answers you choose on dates with her, the more unimpressed and surly she becomes on future dates.

Path: Regular difficulty Saachi isn't terribly difficult to romance assuming you are the heroic, active, big-hearted type who respects that she is the same. Taking actions in the game that keep up your activity level and your heroism meter will impress her. She develops crushes fairly easily, but it will take work to move her from just fantasizing about dating you to actually giving it a chance. Saachi values creativity, compassion, and heroism above all else, so it is important to keep the Creativity, Heroism, and Empathy meters above average. At a certain point in the game, Saachi will ask you to tell her a story. Choose the most dynamic, outlandish, fun responses during the story-telling segment and end with a heroic, happy ending. Wowing her with the Storytelling game will give you a major boost on her path. Choosing the short sentences with little to no description, having the 'hero' in the story act out of character, or ending the story poorly could undermine prior progress you made. She responds well to compliments and thoughtful gestures. Insulting her, lying to her, or showing a general lack of empathy for others will potentially make her path entertaining if you want to see her get angry, but will ultimately remove her as an option for end-game romance. MALIKA

Pros:

-Confident -Up for almost anything -Especially if it's illegal (your mileage on if this is a pro or a con may vary...) -Witty -Dates with Malika are unique; she will take you to places in the game that you would not be able to access by pursuing other paths (because you will be trespassing) -Disinterest in traditionalism means she does not care that she is in a dating sim; you can kiss her before you reach the ending -Prankster/trickster -No need to worry too much about getting your stats just right. Malika only watches the Luck stat. Cons: -Obsessed with fate/Gambling mini-game: When Malika appears in the game it will be at a random point after you have increased your Luck stat. She will suggest you gamble with her. If you say no she will not appear for the rest of the game, effectively disappearing as an option. If you say yes but lose, there is a 50/50 chance that she will not appear for the rest of the game. Winning the gamble is the only guaranteed way to start her path. -Unreliable -Lies for fun -Difficult to read -Will steal from your character. If your character has key items or presents in their inventory, there is a random chance that she will steal it and replace it with something different. Sometimes this could be a significantly better item that increases stats. Unfortunately, there is a chance it could also be a completely useless item.

Path: Deceptively difficult and frustrating Going on dates with Malika is extremely easy. Simply prove that you are the type who will take risks and you will not have trouble spending time with this chaotic thief. The problem is getting her to stay... While other characters are likely to give hints that your responses or actions displeased them, Malika is a con-artist and may seem entirely unbothered through the duration of the date, but after the date will disappear from the game forever. She actively makes the game more difficult and frustrating for the player as it may be difficult to tell when she is being honest about things she likes or when she is just fucking with you. Characters should not -ever- sympathize with the wealthy or attempt to convince her to not harass or steal from the wealthy. Taking any option that tells her "You should" or "You shouldn't" will remove her as an end-game option, as will taking the option to confess your feelings to her before end-game.

ADELAIDE

Pros:

-Ishgardian intrigue sub-plot -Slow burn path that simmers with intensity as the path progresses - A subtle, dry humor -A healthy disdain for nobility despite being part of the nobility herself -Ability to laugh at herself -Fun dueling mini-game -You will receive hand-written letters from Adelaide -She gives thoughtful, expensive gifts. This is a pro because these gifts include major stat boosts that would otherwise be difficult to come by in game. -The Azmerien Garden date location is one of the most beautiful locations in the game and only accessible in her path. Cons: -Despite it simmering with intensity as the path progresses, it is still VERY slow burn -Despite openly mocking nobility, she will be hesitant to break from tradition. It will take time for her to even hold your ungloved hand. -She pays very close attention to stats: they must all be well above average for her to appear at end-game -The Ishgardian intrigue sub-plot will make the game more actively more difficult; Adelaide's corrupt family will attempt to get in your way Path: Openly difficult Adelaide has very particular tastes and takes time to warm up to the player. She will be turned off by active, aggressive pursuing of her too early in the path. Any confessions early on will reset progress with her though, unlike Malika, it will not bar you from future dates with her. All stats need to be above average to win Adelaide, but Athleticism needs to be the highest. Winning fencing duels with Adelaide will increase your Athleticism score and will give you the same bonus as giving her a gift would. The duels become increasingly more difficult each time you select this option, but the bonus also increases to match. Adelaide's family will attempt to interfere. Random events in the game will include attempts at draining your money and spreading rumors that could negatively affect your stats if you do not deal with them quickly or could raise the prices at stores where you want to buy gifts.

WHEW. How did I do? That was fun!

[sailforvalinor]

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is by no means a fantastic film, but it’s a such a shame because it could have been! The pieces were all there! The concept of Clara, feeling lost and out of place in the world that her mother left her in, stumbling into an entire world also dealing with the loss of the same person is fantastic, and if the film had done even just a little bit more with it it could have been great. Marie is mentioned all the time, but as the film is more concerned with showing how visually stunning the Four Realms are than actually diving into its characters, we never get a sense of the hole that she left behind and how Clara is (or is not) able to fill it. If Marie had been given a bit more of a tangible presence in the world, rather than just characters talking about her constantly (but never actually telling us anything of substance about her character except for how wonderful she was), the Sugar Plum Fairy’s betrayal would’ve felt a ton more justified. Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy were clearly meant to be foils for one another, and the film could’ve benefited from bringing how they both handle their grief into sharper focus—Clara pulls into herself and doesn’t engage with the outside world, while the Sugar Plum Fairy tries to extend her power outward beyond herself to try control her environment, but what both have in common is that they both try to exert control in order to establish the security that they feel they’ve lost in Marie. I wish the film could’ve been a little bit clearer in its “it’s okay to miss me, but you will heal and you have the ability to stand on your own” message, which is at least what I think it was going for, rather than the cliched “the power was in you all along and your the most-est special-est person ever,” which is definitely what it felt like at times. The “the wonderful invention your mother ever created was you” rang especially hollow at the end, as it kind of ignores the existence of Clara’s two other siblings. Were they just not special enough? Because, if so…yikes.

I’m holding myself back from going on a whole rant about how this film handled Clara’s siblings, because that would take awhile, but I will say that if this film ever gets a sequel (which I still hope it does, as I said, there’s so much here), it HAS to include Clara’s siblings—the Four Realms are just as much their birthright as it is Clara’s.

Also, for a film called “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” it irks me so much how little the Nutcracker is involved in the plot. He’s just kind of there. In a film named after him he feels like an afterthought and I hate it! Why is he the only Nutcracker? Why is he guarding that bridge alone? Did he personally know Marie, or only as his queen? Is he actually a Nutcracker or a real person? There is so much they could’ve explored with him, but no, they decided to regulate him to being the guy with the sword and saying vaguely encouraging things to Clara sometimes. The one great moment he had was when Clara opens the music box and says, “There’s nothing here,” and he replies, “There’s music”—but then they undermine that a few scenes later by having him be wrong and there be a mirror in there! (I hate that mirror as a plot device so much.) I just—I—the wasted potential!

[momonica05]

What people don't get about anti-intelectualism: it's not about booktok

I always feel so angry at this whole booktok anti-intelectualism discussion because people are now "pro intelectualism" without knowing what it really means outside the internet or the US (oh, the irony)

It's not about booktok. Anti-intelectualism is when you go against the european/US standards of what is intellect. It's looking outside of hollywood, of Broadway, of reading and recognizing the literature (CLASSIC OR NOT!!) of your country instead of undermining it just because it's not from Europe or United States

It is a form of art against the christian eurocentric "american" way of what art and knowledge is! I could go on and on about how intellectualism as you know fucking sucks because it's basically saying that the only source of intellect that matters is X or Y (AND ITS ALWAYS ENGLISH), or how at least the kids on booktok are actually READING and that alone is good because of the incentive to read, even if crap books, is valid. We need to remember these books are WAY more accessible than your usual classics, so one kid reading Twilight can grow a passion for reading, which my generation seriously lacks. Which brings me to another thing: language. Anti-intelectualism is also the use of non-formal or popular language too, because it wants to reach the people!

I'm tired and my english is frying my head so I'll end it here with a little message: just because someone reads bad smut Kylo Ren fanfiction, doesn't mean she will never read Pride and Prejudice. If she finds the language boring well guess what its because it fucking is.

[susandsnell]

You're so right about Katniss! Her feelings for Peeta always felt like obligation - because he was kind, because he loved her and he deserved to be loved back, because he was what she was supposed to want and she'd be crazy not to - and she had mad vibes with Joanna. (The Katniss thing is also why I hated all of the MCU Natasha ships with guys. She's my second pick after Nina for character I am convinced is a lesbian.)

Thank you so much for articulating all this and sending it my way because I've felt nuts for years reading it this way (+ it's a pleasure to hear from you)! And that's with Joniss as a relatively popular ship, lolol.

I won't deny that him saving her from starving and later all they did for one another during the Games isn't meaningful, but you put it perfectly; the text keeps telling us he deserved to be loved back, he's what she ought to want. It makes a point about why she doesn't owe Gale, but wholly kind of sells us on her owing Peeta. The text makes a point of how Katniss, very realistically, has hang-ups about debt, and how the nature of Panem's totalitarianism is such that all kind acts are viewed as transactional rather than genuine, but then completely undermines this by providing little to no meat to how Katniss' real feelings developed from the ones staged for the Games. It's one of those cases where even if the guy isn't a Nice Guy, there's textual Nice Guying going on lolol. (I do also acknowledge that these books were products of the aughts and queer characters in YA were almost nonexistent, but having recently read Moth Diaries from 2002 which actively engages with comphet, I'm feeling spoiled lol.)

Likewise, the having children thing is like -- I get it, people can change their minds and her not wanting to be a mother was a product of the dystopian society they subsequently rebuilt as well as her own experience of maternal neglect, but given what the real world has always been wrt reproductive rights and just in general treating female queerness/nonconformity as a "phase you'll outgrow"/"you'll find the right guy and want kids eventually", I don't think I'll ever not feel gross about a character who does not want kids eventually ~embracing motherhood~ lmao. It could happen, but when the characters are fictional and hence in the author's control...it feels like propaganda, especially coupled with her repeatedly stating she didn't want a husband. And the quote from the epilogue is literally "It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly." Which. Ew.

Contrast with Johanna, where things felt a lot more organic, less based on a sense of debt and more on some classic rivalry tropes that evolved into a sweet balance between an organic camaraderie and Stupid Sexy Flanders (I mean, the elevator scene? Straight girls do not react like that! "Johanna's motivational insults" and the relationship shift?)

Anyhow, thanks again for the message and sorry for the mini-essay/rant this turned into, haha. I'd be mega interested to hear your MCU Natasha thoughts, though, since your Nina tags were so accurate! (Equally biased because she was an early sapphic crush for me, haha.)

[bedofthistles]

The Little White Horse: Theme

Final thoughts, and the themes I found in the book and the movie

TL;DR

The Secret of Moonacre was an absolutely beautiful, whimsical film that taught its viewers the lesson of love and forgiveness, and the value of putting your pride aside for the betterment of the world around you. The Little White Horse is a book hellbent on teaching young girls that curiosity is wrong, and not to ask too many questions. Humbling yourself means lowering yourself to the point where you sacrifice your well-being and future, and that love truly is blind to all those red flags. 

Now, clearly my opinion of The Little White Horse is not a good one, but I honestly can’t think of a good lesson that came out of this book. Whatever good Goudge was trying to do, is undermined by all the bad wrapped around those morals.

Sexism, racism, male egotism, and here I really want to compare the movie and the book.

I won’t take too long describing the movie, since I’m sure we’ve all seen it. But the movie begins with a young girl who has just lost her father, and she has already lost her mother. She is a city girl, born and raised in London, she is proper, educated, a tad egotistical, curious, and a prideful, stubborn girl. 

On her journey, learning about and falling in love with Moonacre Valley, she learns to put these things aside in order to put Moonacre first. Maria learns to appreciate the Countryside and its beauty, her love for the people around her, not just her Uncle, but the servants of the household who are technically ‘under’ her. She willingly gets dirty, thinks about the good of all over herself, and at the very end of the film, she sacrifices herself to save the entire Valley. By jumping from the edge of the cliff, Maria completes her journey of self discovery, she shows that her love for those around her is stronger than her own need to live. 

And, everyone else subsequently puts aside their own pride as concern and fear override stubbornness and they all run to the cliff, too late of course, but they forget themselves for a moment, and choose Maria. When Maria is returned by the Sea Unicorn, the Valley is saved, the natural order of things is restored, and peace can finally come to the two families. 

In this moment, we the audience have learned the value of love, forgiveness, and sacrifice, of what it means to value something above yourself. 

In other words, this silly little film that has a critic’s score of 23% and an audience score of 46%, does what Elizabeth Goudge could not do. 

Giving a story that has good morals. 

Despite her attempts, The Little White Horse is bogged down in dated world views. Her definition of love is bowing your head to men, who are abusive and pedophiles, and accepting it. She expects women not to humble themselves, but crawl on the floor in order for there to be peace. She does not teach lessons on equality, on the pursuit of knowledge, or of true humbleness. I hate to repeat myself, but there is hardly any good that comes out of this book, and what little good there is is shrouded by an awful message to young girls specifically, and young boys. An acceptance of abuse, that people can be wholly evil and wicked, that peace is unattainable through communication and understanding, but must be brought on through sacrifice. 

The truth of the matter is that love is sacrifice. Love is putting others above yourself, giving and providing, of leading all for the sake of someone else, however love should not be misconstrued so horribly that the only lesson that can be taken away is that you must cut off pieces of yourself to be amendable. While wildly praised, I cannot help but feel as if this book is viewed through rose colored lenses, that the descriptions of delicious food has somehow blocked out our ability to see abuse, grooming, racism, and sexism.

The Secret of Moonacre may not be the most popular movie, but the creative liberties they took were absolutely necessary in order to create a story actually worth showing your children. And hopefully, The Little White Horse, can either fade into obscurity, or be used as an example.

Prev | First

[doodlegirl1998]

Thinking back again on the early days of MHA. Hori set Izu up to failure.

What I mean is his comical tears are a turn off for some. The tears were it seems as if he is spilling all the water in his body...it gets old pretty quick and is not a good lock for he mc.

(I have seen girls and lil kids doing that in animes. People arent always fond. Calling them annyoing. Sailor Moon is a big example of that)

Not saying Izu needs to be Macho Man...but he couldn't cry in a normal way. When AM told he can be a hero...and Izu cry nornal tears...it was a touching moment.

It sold for me.

Now...Izu crying fountains from his eyes is wierd. And I can see why people would he turn off by this.

Hori made by design.

Again. Not saying Izu needs to be super macho...but his comical tears...sure gave the wrong impression for the fans and Hori...went along.

Hi @mikeellee 👋,

I can see where you are coming from with this. In general, I think it's praiseworthy that Izuku is so fearless in crying, in expressing upset and extreme emotion especially as a lead in a Shonen. This could be seen as giving the message to little boys that its ok to cry.

However, since Izuku is a lead in a shonen marked at teen boys and Hori has used his tears for comedy...

You are right when you say it can dull the impact of Izuku crying when he does it a lot and for comedic effect especially when Izuku's upset and emotions in general now are no longer explored.

And that it can be viewed as an annoying trait especially to the teen boys this is marked toward which is, as you said, setting Izuku up for failure.

Especially as, his bully, Bakugou's anger is deemed more 'acceptable' in macho culture and Izuku's trauma responses to him like flinching are now deemed 'funny moments' by the narrative.

TLDR - Hori's "comedy" of exaggerating Izuku's crying can be seen as dulling the impact of when Izuku is actually crying because he's upset. Additionally tears are generally more frowned upon than anger in macho culture. The narrative also downplaying Bakugou's abusive anger and Izuku's upset trauma responses as "funny" also serves to undermine Izuku's feelings.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

I really wish Jaehaera was wife and Queen of Aegon III instead of Daenora and was alive during Blackfyre Rebellions. What would her reaction would be when Daena was passed in favour of Viserys II, as its the same thing to happen her aunt Rhaenyra(and his mother!) - would she the one who help built the friendship between Daemon and Aegor, the one who suggested the marriage of Daemon and Rohanne? Would she be disappointed in Elaena? So many things to explore imo

Killing Jaehaera off at age 10 and for Aegon to not even care was one of the most annoying parts of F&B for me. It helps undermine one of the underlying messages of the Dance; that the older generation was self-destructive and unworthy of rule, so the only ones left to build a future together were the traumatized kids…except now that Jaehaera’s dead it feels like a complete Black victory, not a Black/Green compromise stalemate like before. It also keeps the Black/Green conflict in concrete present memory, as there are still Greens around by necessity instead of the major Greens leaving court by being stupid (Unwin Peake). Apparently I’m not alone with this, because people on Reddit floated the idea of Jaehaera living to be an adult queen in the show and being an influence on the Blackfyres. Of course you’d have to give her a personality transplant—as what little we get of her calls her “a sweet, simple girl”, probably not that interested in politics or ruling, though again she was only 10—to have her make some of the decisions you’ve described.

more discussion of the AU under the cut:

Jaehaera was technically usurped herself. By the law of Andal succession, as she was Aegon II’s last remaining child, the should’ve been heiress with Aegon as her consort rather than the other way around. I could definitely see someone in that position feeling angry about Baelor annulling his marriage to Daena, essentially taking the throne away from her family that was basically obliterated in the war (because if she was disinherited despite Andal custom, why not Daena if Baelor clearly wasn’t going to sire any heirs?) due to Baelor’s hypocritical religious fervor (septons are supposed to give up all their lands and titles, so if Baelor was a Septon he should’ve gone to a sept to study, not imprison his sisters). But of course, everyone with a brain hated the Maidenvault idea.

I think any noble mother would’ve felt disappointed at her daughters for having children out of wedlock, although the circumstances were understandable (imprisoned for 10 years from tweenage/teenager to adulthood is going to take a mental toll on someone). I think with Daenaera it might’ve even been worse because Baela was her foster mother and presented her to Aegon at the Maiden’s Day Ball…only for Baela’s husband to have an affair with her youngest daughter (35 years older than she was. I’ll reiterate that in the Targ tree, several adults are grandparents before they reached 35) while Baela was alive (don’t listen to the anti Daenas. Rennifer Longwaters says point blank Alyn “lost his heart to Elaena though he was married to another”). With Jaehaera, at least the relationship wasn’t so personal (although it’s implied that Aegon II was interested in Baela), though the age gap would give any mother the creeps.

I don’t think Jaehaera would push a Daemon/Rohanne match, because Rohanne is a foreigner without militarily powerful allies to call on quickly. In OTL, the match was Aegon’s idea for a future war with Dorne. Probably a Hightower cousin would be the match she’d recommend. If she lived, I think she would’ve blocked Aegon’s claim to fathering Daemon as Daena did, thus he’d have no right to dispose of Daemon’s hand. As for Aegor, I don’t think Jaehaera being alive would change what happened to the Bracken sisters, meaning he was banished from court until Aegon’s death, and couldn’t be a childhood friend of Daemon’s. Aegor is predisposed to hate the Targaryens (for good reason), so I don’t know if he’d be willing to support yet another Targaryen branch in taking the throne, unless they were demonstrably better than the current rulers (not that it be hard)

I find it a little puzzling that some people who imagine Queen Jaehaera AUs understand that the Hightowers would feel usurped by Viserys II and want their descendant Daemon “Greenfyre” on the throne, but at the same time other people adamantly refuse to believe that the Velaryons might’ve supported Daemon for a similar reason in OTL (especially since they went from #2 house under Aegon III to …? under Aegon IV and Daeron II, who notably stacked the court with their own yes men).

It’s all a lot to imagine, for sure.

[marley-manson]

In Love and War

-- Potter sucked lol, straight up says he didn't tell Hawkeye about Kyung Soon's circumstances and let him go off about rich people because as a colonel he doesn't need to explain orders. Then topped it off by being condescending while stating the 'love during a war sucks' theme. Oh ALSO not a fan of his explanation for transfering the nurse who Donald hit on comparing her and Margaret to a car and a horse respectively. Minor in the grand scheme of things, but like, it's very Potter.

-- Loretta Swit was so fucking funny in the shower scene

-- the Kyung Soon + BJ goodbye scene parallels are so strong lol, kudos for that

-- headcanon that Hawkeye is not a lit guy heavily reinforced \o/ I only remembered like one line, but his interactions with Kyung Soon were actually full of not getting her lit and poetry references, and he even made a self-depricating joke about quoting the Divine Comedy from a comic book version - a joke I think is exaggerated, I do assume he's probably at least read some of it for school, but it does tell us that Hawkeye doesn't see himself as a literature knower

-- Hawkeye trying and failing to hammer a board, Kyung Soon takes the hammer from him and tells him his hands are for surgery. that's my guy

-- love Hawk and Margaret commiserating together at the end, sans explanation. it's a little odd this early, but not so odd that it feels implausible, so it strikes a good balance evocative of a burgeoning friendship.

-- Kyung Soon was a pretty solid character for a single episode love interest. kudos for that.

-- I've seen posts that interpret this episode as a critique of American imperialism so I was watching the ep with an eye out for it, but I don't see it as an intended theme. I think you can pick it up essentially as a side effect of the show trying to realistically portray a downer romance between an American draftee and a Korean civilian, but the ep is very on the nose about its theme (romance and war don't mix) and everything that points in that more specific and political 'critique of imperialism' direction is either a) undermined shortly later (eg Hawkeye suggesting they eat dinner in a bombed out restaurant initially seemed potentially insensitive and out of touch, but Kyung Soon and the narrative finds it romantic), b) furthering the more general war sux theme (eg the bombed out restaurant, or Hawkeye's class A uniform at the funeral, as foreboding symbols of the war poised to separate them), and/or c) something I wouldn't expect a mainstream 70s audience to understand as a critique of imperialism without further explicit contextualization (eg Hawkeye's uniform again).

Plus, rather than being critiqued as an American, Hawkeye is pointedly portrayed as ~one of the good ones~ with the way Kyung Soon explicitly says she likes him because he "cares about [her] people," and his response to Charles' racism. Maybe a little naive in a way that can be taken politically, but not in a way I believe is intended to be a political statement - it's Hawkeye's idealistic romanticism imo, since it's contrasted to Potter's world-weary realism.

Basically I can see the anti-imperialism lens the way you can view most of Mash through it, but I'm not inclined to give the show credit for a thoughtful anti-imperialism sentiment here. They've done anti-imperialism episodes and they tend to be more clumsy lol and much more overt. Imo the tragedy in this episode is the war, not the American presence in the war.

-- That said, I think the lack of intentional messaging and the focus on sad realism works in this episode's favour, because it's overall pretty good. I mean it's still a rushed one-ep romance which never actually works, but within the bounds of its format, it's successful imo. And the realistic touches do add up to an implicit, if accidental, critique of imperialism if you're inclined to see it. It's a solid lens to view the episode through, just not one I'd praise the writers for.

[thevampiremars]

just realised I never shared my thoughts on the new Doctor Who episodes

Space Babies ✦ 5 maybe 6 /10, could have been 7 with a few tweaks

• unmemorable monster design. the only feature which really stood out was the big hands that look like dead spiders, but that doesn't scream "snot" to me. make him goopier. and if you're going to go with spidery hands, have some lingering, unsettling shots, not fnaf-style jumpscares on security footage. play to the creepy-crawly strengths of the design.

• the Bogeyman really should have been physically present with the space babies at the end of the episode. I feel like the message about embracing everyone and not rejecting a child just because they're weird is a little undermined by the Bogeyman still being kept separate from the rest of the babies. also it would have been cute to see him playing with toys or something.

• I didn't like the fart engine thing, not because eww potty humour but because it felt unnecessary and again kind of undermined what I thought was a good message. the Doctor offered to give these refugees a lift to get them somewhere safe. it's radically straightforward. no negotiation required, no problem-solving, just some people in need and someone who has the means to help them. literally, it's not rocket science. but then the space station farted into escape velocity so nevermind I guess.

The Devil's Chord ✦ 4/10

I'm not a big fan of musicals, and dance party endings make me cringe. I recognise this is a me problem. I found the whole music is so important you guys message a bit weak, and problematised by the fact that music did still exist in the world ("I've Got A Dog") so I guess only "good" music is important? I don't like that.

anyway I was expecting something like Buffy's Once More With Feeling, but this was okay. I appreciate the experimental aspects, even when they don't quite work for me. I like that the people who work on this show aren't playing it safe and churning out something formulaic to satisfy Disney; if anything, they're using their newfound budget and platform to go all out on bold swings, which I think is neat.