#i mean not really because we know exactly why it was swapped for the 1

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

holding onto the idea of "invisible string" keeping the relationship alive when things got hard and confusing like...

The point of "invisible string" isn't necessarily that they're fated, it's that it's nice to pretend that was the case. They're a series of coincidences that made them the people they are that happened to land them in the same spot at the same time where they met and hit it off and the rest is history. Taken on their own they don't indicate some cosmic link drawing them together, but they're a series of thousands of minute choices throughout their lives that tell their individual stories and now they're joined for their story together.

So what happens when the choices you continue to make are hurting you? But, those choices once led to the greatest joy of your life (or so you thought), so surely that could once be your fate again. You hold on for dear life (until old habits die screaming, ahem). You make more choices to try to get back to when it was just so pretty to think that you were fated to be together.

(And that's how "invisible string" ends up on the set list for your world tour while you're desperately trying to keep that relationship alive because isn't it just so pretty to think that this could work out.)

[reulaux]

Shen Jiu, staggering out of the burnt manor, staring blankly, "Qi ge didn't come back to save me... Qi ge must be dead..."

Shen Qingqiu, throwing the tea set at the person who gifted it to him, fed up with the apologies: "Don't you dare call me by that name! Qi ge is dead! You're not Qi ge! Real Qi ge would never abandon me. Get out! Get out!"

...

What if it's true?

What if the thing/person that walked out of the Lingxi Cave isn't Yue Qi, but Xuan Su possessing his body?

===

In response to the comment, I'm imagining Xuan Su!Yue Qingyuan saying sorry to Shen Jiu because he 'killed' Shen Jiu's Qi ge but doesn't know how to explain so he fumbles around like real Yue Qingyuan does, which, I think, in this case, is harder to explain than in original Yue Qingyuan's case because neither Yue Qingyuan nor Xuan Su has an idea how it happened, and whether Shen Jiu is going to believe them if he just tells, because it's unprecedented and simply outlandish.

The previous generation Sect Leader and Peak Lords believe Yue Qingyuan fused his life force to the sword because they detect Yue Qingyuan's life force in the sword and Xuan Su's energy in Yue Qingyuan's body. Well, that's because Yue Qingyuan is in the sword and Xuan Su is in Yue Qingyuan's body.

Xuan Su learning to control limbs is seen as Yue Qingyuan recovering from the torn tendons and broken bones. Xuan Su not knowing how to exactly deal with humans as a human himself is seen as Yue Qingyuan being withdrawn and quiet from the traumatic ordeal. But it is all good to Yue Qingyuan's shizun who says, "Good, you've learnt your lesson. You aren't reckless anymore."

...

Maybe, at one point, Yue Qingyuan and Xuan Su realise drawing the sword for long enough time may solve their problem, but the Sect Leader and Peak Lords keep thwarting and preventing their 'suicidal' future sect leader for 'his own safety.' Maybe that's why Yue Qingyuan/Xuan Su pleads Yue Qingyuan's shizun to take him to fight Tianlang jun as an excuse to unsheathe the sword... Unfortunately that's still not enough. As we see in canon, Yue Qingyuan is still alive, not visibly aged or dying. To completely pull Yue Qingyuan back into his own body should mean drawing the sword long enough to make canon Yue Qingyuan dies.

Maybe after the previous generation ascended, Yue Qingyuan/Xuan Su tries at every chance to draw the sword to fight, but too bad, they grow too strong. Most of the time, just unsheathing for 1 inch and the enemies are already all dead...

Maybe they try having Xuan Su cultivates the Way of Unity of Man and Sword again so they swap back. To no avail, their places are even firmer. Maybe because Yue Qingyuan has already formed a core so their cultivation and places are stuck with this core...

Yue Qingyuan communicates with Xuan Su like other cultivators communicate with their own spiritual weapons. Only certain cultivators who are very in tune with spiritual weapons or spiritual energy can hear others' spiritual weapons speaking, and thus the real Yue Qingyuan's voice.

Actually Wei Qingwei's shizun should also hear Yue Qingyuan's thoughts aloud, but brushed it off as Yue Qingyuan's being fused with the sword anyway, and Xuan Su's being grumpy because it's locked in the Cave with its owner for a year and forbidden to be used thereafter, so it's quiet.

Wei Qingwei and Shen Qingqiu once they have high enough skills and cultivation occasionally hear Yue Qingyuan's thoughts when they are nearby. They would think they hallucinate, or that either they or the Sect Leader got cursed. Imagine in meetings, the 2nd and 3rd ranked Peak Lords hear Yue Qingyuan thinking out loud, talking to... His sword? Before really physically speaking... Weird, but okay...? So they visit Mu Qingfang seperately. And Mu Qingfang notices 2 Peak Lords having the same symptoms. He calls Yue Qingyuan to get examined too. And some Peak Lords rule out it's not actually a curse but... They still don't know what to call it. Maybe eventually they set up very strong, multi layered arrays to have their Sect Leader goes into 'seclusion' and unsheathes the sword inside, and take turn repairing the arrays from overpowered qi and sword eneygy, for a ridiculously long time...

---

Or maybe we go down the route where Xuan Su is an arrogant ancient sword so it doesn't bother going to rescue some slave, and additionally hates Shen Jiu for being the reason his wielder gets in this mishap, so the dynamic between Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu would be different from in canon. It would be the opposite of favouritism. Shen Qingqiu is going to be hated by not only the Peak Lords but also the Sect Leader. Would he still stay in Cang Qiong if no one treats him well? Maybe. Because this position gives him a place to stay, protection, and resources. Maybe because of his loyalty. Maybe because he still has some lingering affection for Qi ge and wishes one day the Qi ge who loved him would come back...

And Qi ge did come back.

Every time the Sect Leader draws his sword, he becomes kinder and kinder towards Shen Qingqiu, because Yue Qingyuan seeps through and gains more and more control. Shen Qingqiu notices but doesn't dare to raise his hope.

Then one day, Yue Qingyuan calls Shen Qingqiu "Xiao Jiu" and Shen Qingqiu is stunned. He has thought Yue Qingyuan had forgotten all about the little slave number nine and doesn't care about him anymore. Then Yue Qingyuan, now mostly Yue Qi, tells Shen Qingqiu what he has always wanted to all these past years, that he's first stuck in the cave, then in the sword, but he finally eventually comes back to Xiao Jiu now albeit very late.

[heliomanteia]

My personal list of criticisms for the series because if I don't put these somewhere I will actually go crazy in my room within the panopticon. I thankfully saw some other people share their lists and here comes mine.

Here I'm looking back at the episodes with the perspective of the viewer who knows what has and has not been properly used.

I rewatched the whole thing so this is EP1 through EP8.

🔱 Episode 1:

The ADHD & dyslexia rep stops episode one like it was forgotten about. It will become a pattern.

I am very, very bitter about the introduction of the "not everyone who looks like a monster/hero is actually one" through Perseus' story because in the context of Percy's life, he is - at least in PJO - a hero. Don't make the boy doubt himself more.

If they did introduce the "looks are deceptive" idea, I fail to see why this was not alluded to later with Luke.

I feel like neither Nancy nor Mrs. Dodds are really given screen time enough to actually showcase how much of an impact both have on Percy's life.

I still hate everything they did to Gabe's character. RIP Sally's Jackson empowerment story.

Blue food. They never really explain why it's significant.

They had budget to showcase Percy's dreams but instead of obvious enough dreams with animals it's Exposition.

Sally knows too much. They messed up her role as a character by taking away her book archetype. She's going from The Guardian to The Knowledge Keeper to The Victim back and forth.

Percy figures out too much too quickly. It has been discussed back and forth, so just putting it down here.

They mention the Minotaur smelling Percy but they never use it to explain Sally's unnecessary marriage? Potential lost.

Looking back at the Big Bull fight, they really don't let Percy act. The luring trick is his thinking, not Sally's. RIP the horn getting stuck and torn away. I can't exactly believe a young teenager had the power to break off a giant horn, in the rain, in the dark. Bad execution, the tree trick is a way to showcase Percy's wits.

🏺 Episode 2:

I wish they let Percy be dark-haired desperately. Hair color swap is bad design-wise because there's already one recognizable curly-haired blond in the series (Will). It's just a disservice to the actor.

RIP blonde 'Beth. Annabeth being wrongly seen as a "dumb blonde" is half of her character's thing. If they thought it no longer worked for her, they needed to play off another "perceived stupidity" stereotype.

Ugh I wish they let Percy be alarmed around Dionysus because in the book his gambling & "familiarity with alcohol" trigger Percy's PTSD.

Percy's PTSD is not a thing.

So, after the entire season: They had no reason to hide Sally's survival from Percy. Them doing it never got mentioned again. Traumatize the boy some more why don't you.

Luke's speech about the importance of glory doesn't work because his failed quest is never mentioned.

I think Clarisse is a miscast. She's pretty whereas in the books it's sort of the whole thing that she's "big, ugly, and mean-looking". She's one of the examples of deceiving looks as we learn in SoM and later on. Making her pretty just makes her lose purpose.

RIP showing friendly interactions or any true bonding with Luke.

All of that talk about Annabeth's wits and strategies in EP2 only to have it never play a major role in the rest of the season. Told you it's a pattern.

🐍 Episode 3:

Annabeth's story keeps getting decimated. There's so much talk about her closeness to Luke, but there's no showing it.

Ugh, I dislike how they keep making Mrs. Dodds so neutral - enough to just tell Annabeth everything? This is a whole new character.

The Medusa reveal still sucks so much, the tension & suspense are just non-existent.

Upon rewatching, I'd say Medusa overall was a decent monster because she barely did anything but it felt like the entire story was offered up on a silver platter and got resolved too quickly.

"You can't ship the head off" makes no sense, none of Athena's arc makes sense in this show. They established that heroes earn glory through mighty deeds (such as killing monsters) and established that Athena cursed Medusa. Percy is for once right.

Overall, this is the episode where Percy's starting to take up the Exposition Character role and I really don't like that.

🌊 Episode 4:

RIP book Sally Jackson I loved you. Sally's starting to go down the "showing visual frustration towards her neurodivergent child" which is a) utterly out of character b) breaks down her arc even more.

The Furies, the Minotaur, and Medusa are not children of Echidna. The monster's great despite looking extremely boring, but her motivation being personal doesn't work in their specific case; they didn't kill any of her kids.

Small complaint but "a temple is a temple" isn't exactly making much sense. We just established Athena-Poseidon rivalry, we just announced that Athena's place is safe for everyone and protected from Poseidon's earthquakes. The idea to call upon a rival God sounds stupid.

Athena's portrayal is just horrible. She was written badly in the books, like most women, but the show's literally saying: Yeah she would gravely endanger her kid for the "mistake" that wasn't even hers. And... it is never brought up again.

Making Athena such a bad mother while Poseidon goes out of his way to save his child from death seems a bit eh.

I. Am. Tired. Of others. Telling Percy. How and what to feel! Please let the guy discover things on his own.

🏛️ Episode 5:

I will die on the hill of "Annabeth is not supposed to be the one to see the Fates and no, her closeness to Luke does not matter" especially when her and Luke's connection has been buried!

It's Percy's quest, it's his prophecy to handle, it's for him to witness the yarn being cut. It's for him to put things together. I do not get why they keep switching Annabeth and Percy's places in the plot.

So, the fugitive twist is abandoned and never handled again. This is a pattern.

It makes absolutely no sense for Annabeth to be talking back to Ares when she knows who he is and how powerful he is. They keep making her play Percy's part and him - play hers.

I mourn Annabeth's geekiness over architecture. The sole time she seems entranced by something that distracts her is Hephaestus' mechanical wonders which is engineering but not exactly book Annabeth's focus.

I am pretty sure Ares doesn't hate his children in the book, he's just a hard-to-impress dad that lets his children fight their own fights. Making him "hate his kids" added zero weight to his character.

Why is Percy mansplaining mythology to Annabeth.

"Seaweed brain" doesn't work when he just explained a myth to her while she stood there listening as if she has never heard it before.

Ares doesn't really have an impact on the three that he had in the books. This was supposed to be the moment Percy first learns his mom's alive. Since Ares was messed up later on too, I call it lost potential.

🎲 Episode 6:

There's no real reason to suspect Ares or Clarisse in the theft, that scene/realization are lazy cop-outs. They do not begin to suspect Ares unless they literally find the bolt.

Lotus Casino my detested. Worst case of "they already know it" that I've seen in this show. The Casino is meant to be a trap, they are not supposed to know where they are going.

Suspense is nonexistent. They literally figure out the lotus-eaters the moment they step into the place, this is boring!

"Wise Girl" doesn't work when they spent less time letting Annabeth talk the smart talk than Percy.

It has been said a multitude of times but the Casino is boring.

"If you don't know what chances do I have" pretty high ones because they've been writing you off as the wise boy, Percy.

Personal pet peeve: I heavily dislike Hermes' casting.

Hermes' scene is far, far too early in.

Arcades are not too old to put into a 2023 series, VR is lame.

Why is the "is it because of me?" scene so awkward, why are they making Grover feel guilty/implying he's guilty. It was literally not his fault.

Hermes' involvement is so messy, there's absolutely no reason for him to hold them back in any way.

THE SOLSTICE PASSING MAKES NO SENSE, IT DIMINISHES ALL STAKES, AND IT DOESN'T EVEN CHANGE ANYTHING

💀 Episode 7:

It has been discussed deeply but everything about Procrustes' scene was done with utmost laziness and letting him live when he was just proclaimed a murderer makes absolutely zero sense.

RIP Sally Jackson's entire character. Show Sally is not above stressing her 9 year old out, getting visibly annoyed by his "outbursts" (they are really tame), putting the blame on him instead of explaining things to him in a calm manner, and raising her voice at him. Not only is this directly polar to her book self, but it also finalizes the show's destruction of her character.

The Underworld: ugly, incomparable with the book's version, boring. All that CGI and they could only pull up a LOTR movie Isengard.

RIP court of Kings, RIP Fields of Punishment, RIP actual Asphodel Meadows, RIP Elysium. The Underworld is done lazily.

Sally Jackson would never let her child think she's getting rid of him. It baffles me that she's not explaining anything to Percy.

This is not Hades and you cannot at a gunpoint make me accept that this is the terrifying, glorious, intimidating God of the Dead that puts awe into Percy Jackson and terrifies his own child. This goofy mf is not Hades, this is clownery. Another utterly decimated character, entirely off-point.

"These grudges go on forever" is hilarious (/neg) to hear from a God whose children are canonically stated to hold grudges as a fatal flaw. They really can't get the single clearly depicted person right.

Percy single-handedly figuring out it's Kronos with no clues is undoubtedly the worst part of the whole season. Go home kids, there's no tension anymore.

I hate how little Annabeth matters in this show. Her tie to Luke is severed, Percy does her job retelling the myths, she's not obsessive about her interests, and she's not even there with them when the biggest revelations are made. Her sole function is carrying the invisibility cap around (and apparently her friends can't even explain that to Hades). The show has killed Annabeth as a character and it's sad.

⚔️ Episode 8:

Sword lessons are far too late in the season, they would do much more impact building Percy and Luke up if they happened earlier.

I know that in the book Ares' curse is largely forgotten about, but they could have easily included it into the fight.

I feel like Percy has never been explained that monsters don't exactly "die" because not once does he seem surprised that Dodds is back.

Olympus is ugly!

The whole Luke reveal is a mess. Percy jumps to the conclusion far too fast, his sole direct argument it is Luke is the shoes, but he realistically has no other reason to assume Luke's the traitor. He has just given Percy the reason why he kept quiet about Clarisse. Percy and his Super Knowledge I guess.

Luke having a portal-opening tool at hand ruins the whole purpose of Thalia as a character and narrative function.

RIP Annabeth's arc.

Oh, Gabe's story line is horrible. We know they purposefully made him non-abusive (c), meaning turning him into stone doesn't really do anything. Like, you just killed a guy; an annoying but non-threatening guy. Lame.

My overall impression was more negative than positive.

My main complaints regard Richard himself for his shameless misleading promotion and poor writing, the casting directors for missing the "vibe" with too many characters (actors have certain types of charisma and this show is hit or miss with them), the producers for slacking off with prioritizing CGI where it doesn't need to be, and for costume designers. Whoever worked on the Camp sets did a decent job, but the Underworld and Olympus suck so much it's unbelievable.

Doesn't work as an adaptation for me. I wouldn't give it more than 2/10 - only for some set designs.

[type1diabetesinfandom]

Hello all!

Many, manymanymany apologies for the unannounced hiatus. (Still ongoing. Not enough spoons. D: ) I will be back at some point, I promise.

I've been thinking of this blog a lot, what it means to me, and what I want it to be, especially when I don't have the energy to maintain it. Obviously, collecting all the t1d rep I can find in one place is a huge goal! And I think I've made a pretty good start on that. There's over one thousand posts on this blog and several hundred fics in the AO3 collection. That's a lot of search and save.

That's not all I want to do, though. Fandom, to me, is about the things we love. Reading them, writing them, gushing about them in the middle of the night. Throwing your pencil at the wall because you can't get the angle of that epically-sexy jawline just right. And most of all, sharing it all.

I don't think I'm alone when I say community is HUGE for both people with type one diabetes and folks in fandom.

I think we all know exactly how niche the concept of a character with T1D is. Sure, we can make (and have made!) fics and fan art with T1D rep, but then what? Is there somewhere we can talk about it with fandom friends and have them really get it, or do they just nod mutely and change the subject? Where can you headcanon a character as diabetic without it turning into an educational post?

Or, if you're interested in learning more about life with T1D, whether you don't have it at all or maybe you do but you're on MDI and don't know how to write pumps, who can you ask about it?

And on the flipside: have you ever tried talking fandom at diabetes camp? Because I have.

If any of this feels familiar to you, I've got something awesome to tell you!

Introducing...the Type 1 Diabetes in Fandom Discord Server—a virtual haven where diabetes doesn't define us, but our love for fandoms and creativity certainly does! Whether you're crafting intricate AUs or just can't get the next chapter fast enough, this is YOUR community to thrive, connect, and share ideas or experiences.

What's in it for You?

A safe and supportive space to chat about your fave fics, share recs, and maybe even create some epic friendships

A chance to join discussions on realistic representation and the magical realm of diabetic fan theories

Swap prompts to spark your imagination and fuel your creative prowess

A place to discuss the highs and lows (literally!) of managing Type 1 Diabetes while pursuing your passion for everything fannish

...and all without worry that people won't understand why it's so frustrating when a character fixes their low BG with a timely insulin bolus!

*tip for writers: please google how insulin works before hitting post, please. I beg you.

So if you're up for mingling with like-minded fans or gaining a better understanding of diabetes, this is your opportunity!

Whether you're making a Hogwarts AU or need to cry about your Dexcom readings, we're ready and waiting to meet you. Excited to embark on this epic adventure and make some new friends? Click that join button, and come join the party!

*The Join Button*

[darklinaforever]

Nah i have so many arguments on why Alicent is 1000 times better than Rhaenyra, but are you mad cause im stating straight up facts? Emma is ugly. They look like a man lmao it's just awkward 😭 the photoshoot with Olivia was like beauty and beasts, two men and a gorgeous redhead woman.

Rhaenyra is hypocrite weak ass and useless just like her father. Only good to cry, spread legs and giving birth. That's what your so called “rightful heir” did the whole season. I hate Daemon too, but i enjoyed when he choked her out, it was actually good scene. I would have done much worse to her. I hope he will in the next seasons, and the leaks is saying he's treating her like shit. Sounds good to me, are you ready to cry Daemyras? 🤪 Ryan is coming to destroy you all 😂

It's funny, because Alicent only expression throughout the series is watery-eyed... (We can literally make compilations about this ! ) But Rhaenyra is the one who's only good for crying ? Good joke.

Rhaenyra is a hypocrite ? It's funny, it seemed to me that it was Alicent who was hypocritical throughout the show ! Are you sure you didn't swap roles ? (Or simply being a hypocrite yourself, in addition to being stupid perhaps...)

I don't know which is more disgusting. Your comments on the physique of Emma D'arcy who is non-binary.

(Also, no what you're saying is not a fact, beauty is something purely subjective, and many find Emma D'arcy magnificent whether you like it or not. In fact I totally imagine that this reality makes you enrage. Oh. And I'm not sure Olivia Cooke, the Alicent actress herself, would appreciate this kind of gratuitous nastiness towards one of his friends... In any case, from the moment you decide to attack the actor because you don't like the character that this actor plays, you have a real problem in your head)

Or the fact that you enjoyed a scene of abuse against a female character, while hoping that she would suffer even more. (My god, what is wrong with you ?!)

Also... the deep misogyny you must be feeling !

Because I guess when you talk about spreading your legs, you're talking about Rhaenyra having to deal with her own sexuality, like it's some kind of shame ? Once again pathetic.

How long will Rhaenyra be blamed for having a sex life as if it were some kind of crime exactly ? (Again, hello misogyny)

I also want to say that Alicent also had children during the series. So she must have given birth at some point on her own, even if we didn't see her. The fact is that she also had children throughout season 1. So I don't really understand this criticism about giving birth / having children to Rhaenyra specifically... (While Rhaenyra must literally producing heirs, it's one of her obligations. Plus it's logical that we see her give birth since obviously having children is something that scared her at the start of the season ! Especially since we sees her having only 2 births out of 6, what's going on...) another proof of misogyny I guess ? Even Laena and Aemma have been pregnant and had childbirth. So frankly, apart from a gratuitous misogynistic remark, I don't see what you mean. Even in Fire and Blood the births of children are listed for several female characters ! So...why specifically blame Rhaenyra for having children/giving birth ? My god, this is so ridiculous...

You are truly a disgusting person.

Also, who really has nothing to do but come and annoy people. Once again, you're pathetic, except this is on an even more critical level than I thought.

And we call Rhaenyra the rightful heir because... well that's what she is ? She was designated by her father the king as heir to the throne, so that is what she is. Quite simply. A reality that you apparently have difficulty integrating. (Also, in Fire and Blood, Rhaenyra actively learned to be a future queen... And from what we saw in episode 6, she seems to have politically logical thoughts at the council table facing a Alicent poor in arguments)

I also would like to know what Aegon II, the son of Alicent whom she absolutely wants to place on the throne, did apart from harassing his own brother, twiddling his thumbs, drinking, raping women and forcing his illegitimate children to fight in an arena ? Does Alicent's son seem more worthy than Rhaenyra ? I do not think so. At least Rhaenyra learned her duties as heir. (As she says in episode 10 to Lucerys)

And I don't care what the show does. It has its own canon and is essentially fanfiction. The series is not the book. And as long as the book exists, I don't care what happens to this show. They are not the characters in Fire and Blood and never will be.

Your precious little Alicent from HOTD is just the massacre of the real Alicent Hightower who would be ashamed of this ridiculous counterpart that you all defend like crazy.

Alicent and Greens stans leave this in my inbox.

[pikahlua]

Uh oh Katsuki is just fine

I am pleased to inform you that @siflshonen’s presentation just became required reading.

(It’s missing a section now though.)

Look.

Friends.

Colleagues.

Fellow Katsuki parents.

I know some of you are in mourning right now...and another swath of you are rolling your eyes because you refuse to be fooled. I get it. Wild shit going on this chapter.

But like.

You’re both wrong.

I have some earth-shattering observations for your consideration.

I can’t give you a solid meta (yet) because we don’t have the full chapter (YET...grrr). But. I mean. You should be made aware. We did get quite a lot more than I think many of you realize.

1. Title: “Light Fades to Rain”

So...that’s a reference to chapter 1 if I ever saw one.

Specifically to All Might in chapter 1.

Specifically to the moment when All Might saved Katsuki’s life.

Actually, did you notice...All Might came up a lot this chapter?

...these past few chapters?*

2. What the noumu truly represent

Remember when AFO hinted there was a purpose behind the creation of the noumu?

Do you find it weird that all the noumu created are basically graded on a scale of 1 to All Might?

TomurAFO even brags about how he’s got strength on par with All Might.

And this chapter he asked Amajiki if "he really thinks prime All Might would die from such an attack.”

It’s like AFO’s been trying to piece different people together to...create All Might.

3. Apparently Katsuki is still preoccupied with whether or not he can match Izuku’s pace

It’s not the first time this theme has come up. Not in the slightest.

Apparently, Katsuki’s potentially final thought is: "Can I still keep keep up with you, Izuku?"

Which, first of all, MUST be a call back to the Second.

And second of all, you should already know what I have to say about Katsuki using Izuku’s real name.

We’re basically told the Second’s quirk was activated this chapter.

4. The mask comes off

Katsuki’s mask is gone now. In exchange for...a very bloody mouth.

Like Yagi is prone to, huh.

Weird.

Wouldn’t it be wild if Katsuki, like, kept paralleling All Might in all these uncanny ways?

[/irony]

5. He’s dead?

Look, why would Katsuki have a whole weird near-death-ghosts-link-up experience with All Might’s OFA vestige and lament that he never asked All Might to sign his trading card?

Because Katsuki is about to die?

Maybe.

...

Nah.

But then the only other possibility is that...

All Might is about to die?

6. APOLLO NO

So.

Remember that time I told you guys about how this

could be translated to mean “greatest heroes” instead of “greatest hero?”

I take that back now.

tl;dr

Look, I don’t know exactly what’s happening like to the minute detail. But I have seen enough Dragonball Z to know where this is going.

If I had to put words to it with the caveat that there are still other things that could change this, I would go with:

MHA has been asking the question of how to recreate All Might. One glaringly obvious answer to that is the formula Victory (Katsuki) + Rescue (Izuku) = All Might.

If the Second’s quirk is actually Switch, then All Might’s vestige inside OFA may act as a blank quirk or wild card that can be swapped for anyone “equivalent.”

All Might’s vestige...or some aspect of All Might himself may have just jumped in to save Katsuki (for the last time).

Is Yagi in the real world dead? I don’t know. He could be...hurt...amnesiac (HEROES RISING)...unaffected...I really don’t know.

I just think it’s conspicuous that chapter 1 narrator Izuku says “This is the story of how I became the greatest hero.”

Like...literally? Literally--or figuratively even--became All Might?

[cardentist]

As a nonbinary/genderfluid biromantic, demiromantic asexual, literally every part of my gender identity and sexuality has been subject to the same "you could EASILY pass as cishet, so can you REALLY say you experience oppression when you could simply CHOOSE not to" and "you're not REALLY oppressed for being XYZ, you're only oppressed when people mistake you as cis fem/trans fem/gay/lesbian/any other identity we think is ACTUALLY important." My existence in online queer spaces has been hounded constantly by people trying to tell me what my lived experiences are and what they mean, shouting me down about how I can't speak about Insert Issue/Topic Here because sure maybe I'm queer (and to some, I don't even have the right to call myself that) but I'm at the bottom of the Who Is Oppressed More Hierarchy, I am only Oppressed in the way that sometimes I experience what they deem to be a different group's oppression. Not even my oppression is my own! I am too much of an "aberration" to find community and a place to speak amongst the general populace, and I'm too privileged to have a voice in the queer community, even about things that affect me.

And now, I'm watching that same rhetoric being used against transmen and transmascs. I remember when people on this site started really exploring queer headcanons for characters, everyone cheering "let's make X character gay! Y character is trans! Z character is a lesbian!" but if you dared to suggest "can Q character be ace?" you'd be met with "... that's boring." I remember how quickly ace exclusion devolved from "aces are boring" to "god, aces are annoying" to "when you think about it, aces aren't even really oppressed, so they aren't queer, so they should just shut up." And then it wasn't just aces, it was bi folks. And then it was enbies too. And now. Here we are.

This is the only site where people will blog about how "Gender is a sandbox! It's fucky! Men can be women, and women can be men! I'm a boygirl kind of girlboy! There are genders and sexualities in all sorts of shrimp colors you can dream of!" but in the same breath, they'll still act weird about he/him lesbians. They'll still claim that ALL masculinity is toxic. They'll still say that men are boring and annoying and-- Oh? You think that's kind of hurtful? You want to use this as an opportunity to talk about your own lived experiences and vent your frustrations courteously and privately on your own blog? Why do you have to make everything about you?! You're lower down the Who Is More Oppressed ladder because, wHeN yOu tHinK aBouT iT, no man can be oppressed for being a man! Even trans men! So you and anybody even vaguely masc aligned should just shut up and stay out of the conversation and let the queers who experience REAL bigotry talk!

... They could at least say something new instead of reusing the same rhetoric they've used for aces and aros and bi/pan folk and enbies and masc/butch lesbians and countless other queer identities.

All that to say, as someone who has been subject to all this for every part of my identity, I stand with you. Trans Unity! Queer Unity!

Context: [Link 1, Link 2]

I know Exactly what you're talking about !

I was around in inclusionist spaces 10 years ago at this point, before I'd fully crystalized what I Had Going On.

I Remember it being pointed out that ace exclusionists were stealing talking points from radfems directly, up to and including ripping off entire posts and just swapping out "trans women" with "asexuals."

I Remember people warning each other that normalizing these kinds of talking points, convincing people that that Mindset is a valid one, would then make it easy to swap out the Target of said mindset.

and it Has happened, over and over and over again. people are Always looking for the marginalized people that nobody wants to stand up for. that people don't understand, that people don't see as Needing support, that people already have negative feelings about even if they don't recognize Why.

it'll only ever stop when people examine the talking points Themselves and throw them out. when people are willing to stand in solidarity with people Regardless of whether they understand them or not.

if someone is trying to convince you that class of people As A Whole are undeserving of support, are lesser than, shouldn't have their voices heard or considered, Question It ! when they hold people up in Comparison to say that their pain is Lesser and therefore doesn't Matter, Question It !!

[lok-repository]

The Avatar Wiki newsletter has published the final portion of their earlier Q & A last year with Janet Varney, Korra's VA .

Questions after the cut.

What is your favorite Korra battle scene and the change that it brought to the world? Oh you know I can never pick just one favorite! But if I have to pick one for now, I think for sheer intensity, I might have to pick the big Zaheer scene, which I’m not even really thinking about the world impact more than even just the impact on Korra and where it takes us all… the journey afterwards… the PTS… Toph… clarifying her feelings for Asami…

If you weren't Korra’s VA, which character(s) in the show would you want to voice instead? It’s funny, it’s like even though we all know you aren’t asking me to take someone else’s job, the knee-jerk response is to be like “Nooooo! I couldn’t replace anyone! I love everyone too much!” But in a multiverse where we’re all just… maybe swapping roles? I might grab Bolin or Varrick!

Who would you pick as Korra’s VA if it wasn’t you? Thank goodness this would never be up to me in real life- I could never choose between all of the phenomenal VAs out there! That said, I’m kind of obsessed with all the ladies on one of my all-time favorite shows, “Reservation Dogs…”

What is something you have come to appreciate more about the original series while rewatching it for the podcast? Great question! Just when you thought you couldn’t appreciate something more… you watch it one more time, and every “one more time” you love it even more. I think an easy answer would be how much Dante and I appreciate “The Great Divide.” Especially after a recent conversation we had with a certain author about a certain history in that episode that may have influenced a certain book or two…

How are you feeling about talking about Korra on Braving the Elements? Does it feel different than talking about ATLA? Honestly? So far, it doesn’t feel like it will be that different, because anytime I watch Korra, I get so immersed in the story, I basically forget I was in it. But how much Dante might get to tease me about little things like I tease him about Zuko? Now THAT could change things. LOL!

What is the process of planning and recording episodes like? It’s pretty involved, tbh! For a recap ep, I rewatch the episode in question at least three times. You know I like to see what Avatar Wiki has to say! I consult the art book and all the dvd commentary (luckily Nickelodeon made all the commentary/bts stuff available to me, which is great!). I think about the themes of the episode and what kind of guest would be really fun and why. And writing the outline really cements the episode for me in new and interesting ways. And then Dante and our guests STILL manage to blow my mind with their own insights!

Did you know about the spiritual arc that Korra was going to have in Season 4, or when and how did you learn about her bisexuality during production? I knew some broad strokes, but Bryke/the whole amazing team did a good job of keeping us in the moment, episode-by-episode. I can’t remember exactly when Bryke told Seychelle and me about Korrasami, but it was definitely one of the things we knew before it actually happened. And we were both so, so happy!

How do you think Korra grew from her relationship with Mako and the lessons she learned that contributed to a healthy relationship with Asami? Good old Mako. This was a relationship I recognized so well from my own teenage years, and my friends.’ So combine that it was in some ways a very classic teenage relationship with the Avatar circumstances on top of that, and it’s kind of hard to see how it would succeed. But at the same time— who’s to say what “succeeding” or “success” means? What if that relationship was a complete success in that it lasted exactly as long as it was supposed to, and helped Korra and Mako both see what they would really be looking for in a relationship going forward? Plus, it was a success in that she and Mako were ultimately able to love and support each other as dear friends, and that’s a beautiful outcome.

Do you miss and enjoy voicing Korra for as long as you have? Here’s the thing- I don’t know what my answer would be if I *didn’t* get to keep talking about both series (and all the other media in the Avatarverse!) at conventions with fellow fans and with Dante and everyone on the podcast. But because I get to live in the Avatarverse through those things, I honestly haven’t thought about “missing” doing the actual show. Please, everyone, just let me keep nerding out on Avatar forever, and I’ll be happy! ;)

[phantomram-b00]

You know, as much as I would love to talk more about ineffable husband/wives/partner/idiots or aziraphale and Crowley. I do want to talk about something that involves God for once. (While stilllll giving me an excuse to talk more about Aziraphale and Crowley 🤭🤭) so spoiler warning ahead:

So, we know God. she’s kinda the focal point of the story, the footprint that everyone goes back to if you will even though we don’t really see what they look like. Sure you can say Metatron is the voice for God as stated in episode 4, season 1 “Saturday Morning Funtime”. So him plus the archangel in a sense speak for God and do whatever bidding she gives them without question, well exactly for Aziraphale and a Crowley; and everyone is quite ready to just shun them just for not complying with the norm. well I saw a post where it said that God isn’t cruel or unjust but rather put all including her most trusted archangels on a test. So I want to add on to their post as I do agree with their statement; it is evident all the way back in episode 1 where she described the whole baby swapping in the metaphor of cards; so I feel the statement is not far off. What I want to add on is, “what if, God intended Aziraphale and Crowley to be nonconformist the true champions that can truly save the world and are soulmates.”

Now, I’ve made a hefty post about Aziraphale as how he’s an outsider to his own side despite his effort is masking his true identity and beliefs. Though I didn’t touch on Crowley, so let’s change that: Crowley was a follower before he became his own leader. What do I mean? Well when we see Season 2, Episode 1, we are confirmed that Aziraphale and Crowley did met way before the Garden of Eden; and one of the first thing we do see if just how joyous Crowley is at his work with the stars. He’s cutely proud of his work that is until Aziraphale breaks the news to him and you see his walks breaking, he is absolutely devastated that his work is basically for nothing and while Aziraphale try to cheer him up, you can also tell this was the start of Crowley’s conscience that would lead to him falling. Now granted, we don’t exactly know why he fell, we going for implications which would most likely be him asking question. And one thing I did mention when talking about Aziraphale is that Heaven think any question regarding the almighty’s plan is treasonous, making you in their word a “traitor”. But what we can get from the implication of the fall is that if it wasn’t for Aziraphale, his conscience wouldn’t have even invented which is a parallel with the garden of eden as Crowley was the reason for Aziraphale’s conscience to be formed as when we get to after that he lied about the sword. I do think this can’t be coincidental, seem like it was dated all along me thinks 🤔

Now, I bring this up, because since we talking about the almighty themself, it could possible be that she wanted this to happen. I mean, if we look at all from season 1 as a whole; we see that all the angels and demons are quiet literally ready to destroy what they created. Eagerly reading to draw their swords or magic to fight; which is really bizarre how after all those years they’re blasé about the apocalypse. Now I’m sure everyone know the ending that the world got saved and they got punished for it; but not by God or even Satan. They’re punished by people of their own side. Which got me analyzing this show for the billion time: don’t you think that God would’ve punish them themself if she was truly serious about this plan to end the world? Or really, since the angels will do it no question asked wouldn’t she have made the ineffable husband/wives/spouse/partner/morons duo more compliant rather than having consciences? Now granted, it can very well be that she did authorize the punishment, I really won’t be surprised as this is the same heaven that gamble Job’s kids just to see if he still righteous. However, my point still stands, if they really wanted to kill earth or even her own creation she could’ve but she didn’t, she wanted this outcome to happen, she wanted to see how this will play out, this is her playing cards and seeing what strategy they’ll use and she got her answer.

Which let me mention when Aziraphale lied really quickly before I get to Job; now, Aziraphale’s lies is an equivalent of glass, you can see right through that he was lying to God and she most likely knows it too. Now I’m not going to say they would’ve smite Aziraphale for it no, that would’ve been over the top, but I felt she couldn’t scolded him like any archangels would’ve but she just did this:

Now, one thing about the almighty is that, they’re all knowing. So her just accepting that; is a bit fishy innit of itself. Especially when it come to a flaming sword at that, which is her taking an interest in Aziraphale’s story, as He’s the only who isn’t rigid or compliant no matter how much he tried to hide it. It only the archangels and Metatron who are judging and ridiculing him for it. Hell Metatron calls Muriel Dim, (which me and Metatron are gonna fight, no one called them dim, they’re angelic), the angels/Metatron are using their status and the fact they work closely with God to “regulate” the things. But the one thing that if you will, raise my eyebrows is that; we never hear what the Almighty have to say about this, even within her narration in season one, not once she would say anything regarding with Aziraphale and/or Crowley’s decision with apocalypse. This is all in a sense her writing their story and see whatever material Azirphale, Crowley and all her angels can handle; just so happen the way Crowley and Aziraphale are handling their material is what capture God’s eye.

Now to talk about the Job episode, yes. The almighty did make a bet with Satan to see if Job is as righteous as he is, by slaughtering everything and everyone but his wife. Because I guess just giving him a task to prove it was a snooze feast. Now, we did see Crowley killing the goat; until they were just birds. Same with the fact that Crowley turn the Kid into geckos instead of killing them. Now, we did see God talk to Job about whales and ostriches (which if that isn’t every single Bible story ever, I don’t know what is) but I feel given that at the end of the story of job, we see the kids come right back again…wouldn’t you think she would’ve intervened? Considering the kids aren’t dead, even the archangels have suspicions if it wasn’t for Aziraphale lying. Not to mention that, wouldn’t she have intervened when Crowley tempted Aziraphale to eat and they talk about the sides? Oh and let me remind y’all from the post when Aziraphale had a breakdown about falling, wouldn’t she had made Aziraphale become a fallen Angel for trying to save children? But she didn’t, she didn’t make aziraphale fall, she didn’t do anything regarding with the change they both did. While sure, the Almighty does win the bet since Job’s still righteous. But she also got to see the ineffable duo developing as they got their heart to heart with each other.

Which going into season 2, we got to the aftermath of season 1, we see that they relatively left the duo “alone” (by alone I mean they straight up abandoned Aziraphale while Shax actually check in on Crowley to exchanged what going on and beelzebub asked for Crowley help when it came to Gabriel). So it kinda hard to speak as this is now just the duos story with no narration, so, I like to think that just maybe, this is God’s taking a backseat and watching the show with us. She is watching the aftermath from season 1; maybe to see how their doing perhaps? Or to see what they’ll do now as there is going to be a sequel to  armageddon, which mean we might see Jesus and most likely we going to see God/Satan make their grand appearance and I can’t wait to see that, it going to be insane. But let talk about that sequel.

So I mentioned about the ineffable plan that seem to be a niche to the story, it the one thing people bring up when talking about armageddon and it’s sequel. But, what if I tell you guys that the ineffable plans wasn’t armageddon? And that, the true ineffable plan is for Aziraphale/Crowley to save Heaven, Earth, and Hell?

“But Phantom don’t be silly, how can it be if the world almost ended in season 1?” And you’re right, she did almost let the world to die but Aziraphale,Crowley and Adam stop that from happening as Adam call out his deadbeat ex-dad. But, also as I mention, don’t you think she would’ve intervene and not let their lot speak for her? She could’ve easily visited Aziraphale like she did back at the garden of Eden to tell him to stop his shit or visited Crowley to stop his shit, but again she didn’t, and as the post say the almighty want to see justice to be done, she want to see who would protect the sacred creations she work so hard for for her people. She want to see what just who would “dare” to save everything even if it mean to doubt her plan, so maybe she calls armageddon the ineffable plan to cover up what the true ineffable plan is: to save all in the name of justice. And while the archangel listen and is willing to go through the “ineffable plan”; Aziraphale and Crowley are indirectly completing the true ineffable plan, her two creation whom are the only one with conscience are doing what a true angels/hero should do: protect and defend. And they are definitely going to be rewarded and recognize for saving humanity and listening to their heart rather than complying just because “it is what it is”.

Now the soulmates part, look I know season 2 had us all in tears. Trust me. I’ve been crying since the beginning of august because of it. I’ve been reading fanfic to cope. But I’m telling you, it not a divorce, because you know what, I have a feeling the almighty ships these two morons as much as the next person. Because, she had plenty of times to smite them or if you will, punish them. She have that power to do so, she did it with Adam and Eve; she has it in them, but she didn’t. And I think, this was what is meant to be, Aziraphale was meant to meet Crowley (or whatever his angelic name was suppose to be), he was meant to meet him again in garden of Eden, he was meant to befriend Crowley, to spend six thousand years with him and fall in love with him just as it was meant for Crowley to protect, to talk to him and love him in return. While yes, they would be considered star-crossed lovers but I don’t think it doomed, she the biggest shipper since they never try stopping it, she never tried to break them apart, and above all never disapproves of them. It just that archangels/metatron are so corrupted with their self righteousness that they misconstrue anything in the name of the lord which you can say is a great way to depict toxicity with religious as we see that Aziraphale truly suffered in the hand of the side that is suppose to true all equally but excludes him for being different, so having Crowley be the only person that never judge Aziraphale but instead indulge and supports it with him mean that these two were created with the image of them fitting with each other like a puzzle pieces. She have plans for them for sure, this isn’t over for them; it might ended on a painful note as metatron got what he wanted, Aziraphale’s masking again and Crowley lost the one thing that light up the dark by the end of the tunnel. But I’m sure, she will give them an happily ever after and that there not star-crossed, they’re not doomed, they never had and never will.

I guess thank for coming to my tedtalk? Sorry for my rambling, I just realize not a lot talk about the almighty. I get why as she a footprint to the story and that the true starts are the ineffable lovers. This show have me in a choke hold, and this is just my excuse to talk about this. You are more than welcome to disagree or agree with me, all opinions are valid 💜. Hope you guys are having a fun day, and hope you’re feeling good after good omens. Because I’m still going through it lmao.

[attackfish]

I would love to her more about the Gaang’s parents swap. Specifically more about Zuko and Azula. I’m assuming they’re closer since Hakoda didn’t pit them against each other. What happens to them when they run away?

Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. As mentioned last time, Hakoda's biggest problem is that his kids are in cooperation more than they are in competition. For Zuko and Azula, the problem has always been that plenty of tension simmers just under the surface. And to talk about why there is so much tension here, more and different from normal sibling tension, we have to talk about Azula, and how being raised by Hakoda, who both smothers his children and frequently fails to notice what's actually going on with them, has affected her.

2. As mentioned in a previous post, she retrieves Ty Lee in much the same way she doesn't canon, something she could only do because her relationship with Ty Lee was coercive, and rooted in Ty Lee's fear, and Azula's control. So how did she get to the point where she is that controlling, where she would even want a relationship with Ty Lee, and also Mai, based entirely on that control, without Ozai there to push her onto it? The answer is that this is a response to profound loss, and the shattering of a sense of control that comes with that. With Hakoda simultaneously keeping his children just as safe and sheltered as he can, but without giving them any real guidance into how to grow up into decent people, or manage their grief, Azula has been left alone to come up with coping mechanisms. And she hit on the idea that she can keep everybody in her life safe as long as she can force them to do what she wants them to. She knows better than anybody else, just like her dad does, and she can keep everybody safe as long as they do what she knows is best for them.

3. Yeah, she loves her brother, but he can be so stupid, just like Mom, and look how Mom ended up and she has to keep him safe, and he needs to do what she tells him, so heck yeah, she controls, threatens, and manipulates him, to keep him safe. She thinks she does it because she loves him, but it's more accurate to say she does it because she's afraid of losing him. And she does it to Mai and Ty Lee too. And deep inside, the fear that they might die is tangled up with the fear that they might leave her, so she controls them, and forces them to stay. And if you're thinking wow that is not healthy or sustainable at all, you would be right. And if you think that I as an author and hanging a great big flashing sign on this saying this is the character flaw that will be foundational to Azula's arc, that she needs to learn to let go of her desire to control, and the fear that drives it, you would be right I am absolutely that much of a hack.

4. And this is really really hard on both Zuko and Azula. For Azula, constantly giving into her fear this way, not only means that she doesn't have any mutual relationships, of the kinds necessary to sustain a person, but she also is feeding that fear and making it worse by giving into it instead of acknowledging it and processing it. For Zuko of course it's difficult because his sister who he loves can be so unbelievably cruel and controlling towards him. That's very difficult to live with. And it's not like Zuko doesn't have issues of his own, including a sense of self-loathing that leads him to think that yeah his sister is right, and he is stupid, and he should just let her tell him what to do.

5. And it's not exactly like it really helps Zuko understand that this might not be true, when following his sister's directions leads them fairly quickly by sheer luck, into conquering Ba Sing Se, capturing Bato, and killing the Avatar.

[junebugwriter]

Loki Season 2 Doesn't Understand Loki

The fundamental flaw in a season that means nothing

Spoilers below.

I think we need to talk about Loki.  

People who know me know that I don’t like superhero and comic book movies. I love them. And that’s why I’m so critical of them. I can blame my brother on getting me into comics in high school, but the fact that long after that I keep coming back to the well speaks to what I love about them. Comics are the blending of prose and visual artistry, of character and medium. Every comic is a conversation between artists. Television and film, likewise, are another variation on that same theme.  

However, like any other kind of media, its greatest strengths can also fall victim to their greatest enemy: the companies that own them. 

Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe began as a simple concept: translate the idea of comic book universes onto the big screen. Let the comic company own the movies that bring their stories to the masses. When Disney bought Marvel, lock stock and barrel, it also brought truckloads of cash and prestige with it. This proved to be a Faustian bargain in the end, because what happens when the infinite money machine begins to grow too large to handle? Things begin to break down. 

Loki Season 2 is this metaphor brought to life. 

Everything Will Be The Same Ever Again 

The first season ended promisingly enough. Loki and his alternate timeline gender swapped variant Sophie finally find He Who Remains, the man behind the curtains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to. He’s the one who pulls the strings, paves the road, and decides the Sacred Timeline ™—in other words, this is the man who decides Marvel Canon.  

Season 1 ended exactly as I hoped it would: Sophie, tired of being controlled, did the thing that gods of mischief and chaos are supposed to do. She killed the man behind the curtain. In so doing, she unspooled the Sacred Timeline ™ in the name of free will, allowing for infinite universes to be borne from the infinite choices made every moment by every being in existence. She gave birth to the multiverse. She broke the system.  

Obviously, this could not last.   

Loki season 1 promised that the universe would be forever altered by the actions of Loki and Sophie, and for a while, this seemed to be the case. Most of the recent phase of Marvel output has revolved, for better or worse, with the introduction of the concept of multiple realities. This has been used somewhat as more or less a vehicle for Brand Integration ™ and less as a vehicle for, you know, good storytelling. Yes, we’ve been promised Fantastic Four and X-men movies, but those aren’t even really in the works currently. They’ve been stuck in development hell for years since acquisition. All we’ve gotten is a couple of winks and nods, a musical sting, and N’amor, which all things being fair, was great, but N’amor has always been his own thing and a mutant in name only, story-wise. Otherwise, it’s been fine, but far from the promised chaos that Loki season 1 alluded to. 

Additionally, there’s the problem of character. Loki in mythology is less a villain but more of an antagonist, a trickster character that causes problems and meddles in the affairs of others for little reason else besides “he wanted to.” He’s mercurial by nature, and that works very, very well for mythology. It works for the purposes of “this is how the world is, this is why things are the way they are, and this is how the world will end.” Loki’s presence is not malevolent, but rather genuinely chaotic. He will do what he wants, and usually only to satisfy himself. He often seems unable to really control himself, let alone anyone else. He does things because he loves just making things happen, and if he winds up with what he wants, it’s all the better.  

In the comics and the films, he’s much more cast as a villain. In the films, he desires the throne of Asgard, to be the rightful ruler of people. Failing to win Asgard, he seeks out Earth as an agent of Thanos. Failing that, he meanders long enough in the background to have fun when dealing with Thor, and that’s about it. He finally dies an ignoble death by Thanos, and that was to be the end of him. Loki the TV series is not the same Loki we saw die. This Loki is an alternate timeline variant, and after having his ego broken by the Time Variance Authority, he seeks out another variant, Sophie, who has been causing problems for the TVA. 

If all that gives you a bit of a headache, don’t worry. That’s just the comic fan experience. Comics, and superhero stories, are of a kindred spirit with Soap Operas: not only are they highly melodramatic, often made up on the fly, and filled with colorful characters, but they’re also designed to go on FOREVER. That’s the beauty of them. The characters, and the universe, frequently default to a certain status quo. Sure, every few years, something comes along that promises to Change the Universe Forever, but that often amounts to one weird tweak and then it's back to the races as usual. The bad guy comes along to challenge the hero, hero must thwart whatever plan the villain has, and all is well. That’s the rhythm of the comic book story, and that works quite well for executives... to a point. So, what happens when people start to get tired of the same old story? They change the status quo on paper, and hope nobody notices that the structure of it all is still intact.  

That was the promise of Loki Season 1. See? We have a multiverse now! Please, be distracted by this CHAOS long enough to not realize that we are still in control of everything, and everything is fine.  

That last sentence? That’s the plot of season 2. See, Sophie killed He Who Remains, and the multiverse exists. The TVA is designed by HWR to maintain the Sacred Timeline ™. With the Sacred Timeline ™ now in chaos, everything in the universe is going haywire. That means timelines are unraveling. The plot now follows Loki, his hetero life mate Mobius, and a cast of fun, colorful characters, racing against time to keep time from unspooling, and the multiverse from completely falling apart. 

Mr. Loki’s Wild Ride 

“Loki” is a show meant to turn Loki from the god of mischief and chaos to... a hero, somehow. One who wants to fight to maintain an autocratic, bureaucratic organization that wasn’t very good at its job in the first place because the alternative is... chaos. According to the plot, this chaos takes the form of nothingness. Lack of existence. See, without an imposed order, nothing can exist! Therefore, reality NEEDS someone or some entity to maintain order in some way so that everything can keep on existing.  

But why is this the case? Why does reality need a temporal loom or a man behind the curtain? The show doesn’t do a very good job of explaining why everything ceases to exist the moment that the Temporal Loom, the machine that maintains the Sacred Timeline ™ other than “that’s just how it all works,” and really, it doesn’t even tell us that. It just shows time unraveling, sans explanation. How did time exist before the Temporal Loom, you ask? Loki, for all its technobabble and endlessly recurrent exposition, is not actually interested in explaining that bit. You see, it was chaos and war and death before, or it’s nothingness. Which is it? Why is it? It’s a nihilistic and frustrating bit of worldbuilding that leads to nothing.  

This nihilism is a kind of narrative reinforcement technique. By the end of it, Loki has figured out how to control time itself, after much trial and error, as well as another conversation with He Who Remains. Yet in that conversation, he learns a fundamental truth about the MCU: He who makes the difficult decisions gets to sit on the throne. He Who Remains is supposedly one such person. In his stead, at the end, Loki does the same. He wrests control of the timelines, bundles them up into a cape, and seats himself on the throne of He Who Remains. As such, he recreates Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse mythology, the tree upon which all the realms rest. You see? Everything goes back to normal, now that someone is in control. 

But wait a minute. Why would Loki ever make this choice? Loki early in the show figures out he doesn’t want a throne. He doesn’t want control. All he ever wanted was to be loved and known and understood. That is the true desire at the heart of his character. It’s beautiful, and poignant, and speaks to my own heart. In Sophie, he found someone who does know and understand him. Is it narcissistic to love a gender variant of yourself? Probably! But it makes sense for him. Because he is a mercurial person. He doesn’t really understand even himself, and because of that, it results in mischief and chaos. That’s who he is. He is a chaos god.  

By the end of the show though, he’s learned and grown... what? To love order? To love bureaucracy? To love control? That’s what it’s saying when he takes the throne! I understand that this is Loki learning what it means to be a hero, but is that really what it means? To let go of your defining characteristic? To lose what makes you... you? To undergo true ego death so that the world itself can keep on spinning upon your skeleton? For all its over-explanation, Loki the show isn’t interested in answering much of anything. It’s poetic that he gives up his life so that reality can continue, but this seems rather pointless, in the end. Instead of embracing himself, he denies his identity to sit on a throne he doesn’t want. That’s no god of chaos and mischief. That is the god of stability, order, and the status quo.  

That’s not Loki.  

Pay no attention to the executive behind the curtain 

I understand the mercenary reasons for these choices. I understand that the universe must keep spinning, and the infinite money machine must keep on making money. But to do so, they need to kill the defining characteristics of their beloved characters, and that just makes it all so thin, flimsy and frustrating. There are some amazing moments in this show! Everything with Sophie, Mobius, and Ouroboros is excellent. The characters make this nonsense story shine, long enough to make you hopefully realize that it doesn’t even make internal sense. 

As someone who analyses stories for a living, it’s impossible to see this apart from the concept of capitalist realism, whose central maxim is this: It’s easier to believe in the end of the world rather than the end of capitalism. Substitute “capitalism” with “the underlying bureaucracy upon which the world rests and runs itself” and that becomes just the text of Loki. It’s easier to imagine the end of reality than the end of the TVA, and the end of the autocrat who sits on top of the pyramid. The Universe is run by a corrupt pyramid scheme, but it’s that or nothingness! So, you NEED someone to run things like this, otherwise it’s all void.  

That’s what this story is saying—but why does it need to say this? Why do we need someone sitting on a throne? For a character like Loki whose entire character is anarchy incarnate, this simply just rings hollow.  

And so, I am frustrated. I want to like “Loki.” It has some great moments and is a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, it does the character of Loki wrong but having to reinforce the status quo, and when your central character who is defined by causing mischief, maintaining the status quo is a terrible way to end your series.  

[thefandomenchantress]

DRDT Mean Girls AU

So a while back I saw some posts about DRDT Heathers AU, and I was like ‘woah! I have so many AUs like this one where I assign DRDT characters to roles in my favorite media, I should make a post about one of them!’.

Then I forgot.

But I remembered after listening to some of Mean Girls The Musical yesterday, so I’m finally doing it. Speaking of the musical, I’ve listened to many of songs from that a dozen times, and seen the movie exactly one time. So characterization will probably be based a bit more on the musical than the movie. Anyways, let’s get started!

Cady Heron: I’ll be honest, since Cady is arguably the least eccentric of the Mean Girls cast, and her main role in the story is changing her personality based on what other people want her to be without too much focus shown to her true personality for a large chunk of the film/musical, I had trouble figuring out which character I should put here. Eventually, I settled on Teruko. Along with being the main character of DRDT, it’s also confirmed that she spent at least some of her life living in Japan, so I figured we could swap the ‘moving from Africa’ plot line to ‘moving from Japan’ since most of the Africa stuff doesn’t impact the plot too much, besides Cady’s inner monologues, which don’t effect the physical world. And I know Teruko would need to be good at math in order for the plot to work, which she probably isn’t since she’s been on the run and stuff, but just pretend she, by some miracle, got really good at math for some reason.

Regina George: I was kinda stuck between David and Arei on this one, but decided to go Arei in the end. Since it’s been stated she was a high school bully, her being the high school bully in this AU just kinda makes sense. Unlike in Miss George in the movie, I think her parents would be rather absent, which is why she wants all the positive attention at school that comes with being popular. Plus, in the musical Regina gets a small scene where it basically shows she’s starting a redemption arc after the whole bus incident, so Arei can get better, just like in DRDT.

Gretchen Weiners: Ever since it was shown in chapter two that Ace has the habit of eavesdropping and overall being a bit nosy, I’ve loved shoving him into the Gretchen role, and gossipy roles in general. Plus, Gretchen’s hair is said to be ‘big because it’s full of secrets’ and. You have seen this man’s hair, right? Plus you can swap her wanting to make ‘fetch’ a thing to one of Ace’s strange idioms (go swing your bat into a beehive, petal backwards on your tricycle). Since there’s no killing game, he’d probably fit more into his chapter 1 characterization where he’s slightly less aggressive and more of a ‘kickable scaredy-cat’ in his words, doing anything Arei says (while harboring a fuck-ton of resentment towards her, but being too scared to act on it) until Teruko comes around to ruin their tenuous friendship.

Karen Smith: Arturo. One of thier main character traits is about their looks, Karen being the ‘hot one’ according to her song ‘Sexy’ from the musical. And while Karen is definitely nicer than Arturo, I think you could still make him fit the role, by having him act a bit less air-headed and a bit more condescending than Karen (aka like himself while still filling her role in the story, which is basically just to stop being friends with Regina/Arei). Since Arei is the closest thing to a celebrity they have in the school, because of her popularity and rich parents, he’s decided following her around will be the best option for his school career, especially since it boosts his own reputation. But it’s less so that he wants to be in her posse more like he settled for it, so he’s willing to break it off with her once Teruko starts breaking up the plastics.

Janis Ian/Sarkisian: J Moreno/Rosales, and I’ll be honest. One of the core reasons is because they both dress and act in a less feminine way than their other female classmates. But J also was confirmed to really like Teruko in the Chapter 2 refresher (I’m too lazy to look up the actual name), so her wanting to be friends with Teruko right off the bat makes sense. Janis also seems artistically inclined, inviting Cady to come to an Art Show, so switch that with J wanting Teruko to come to a play she’s doing the effects for, as well as them hanging out in the theatre instead of the art room (I know the musical has them in the art room for a scene, not sure if it’s the same in the movie). The ‘people say J’s a lesbian but she’s not’ plot thread is the only thing that bothers me, since having J be mad about being called a lesbian while there are lesbian relationships in the AU that no one bats an eye at wouldn’t make much sense. But I think you could probably play around with this plot thread a little, maybe J and Arei were friends when they were kids, just like Regina and Janis, but once people started saying J was weird/a loser/insert insult here, Arei threw J under the bus (get it??? cause regina gets hit by a bus??? i’m hilarious i know) to save her own reputation and told everyone that they weren’t even friends anymore. Which obviously hurts J’s feelings and she swears revenge for Arei’s betrayal.

Damian (I couldn’t find his last name): If Damian didn’t exist, I probably would’ve cast Whit as Karen, but Damian does exist so Whit goes here. Damian kinda just goes with the flow in Mean Girls, he doesn’t seem to have any reason to ruin Regina’s life but he helps anyways because he wants to be a good friend. Whit also just kinda goes with whatever he thinks will lead to the least conflict, which in this situation is going along with J’s plan, though he does try to talk her out of it a few times, since he isn’t too keen about the idea of ruining someone’s life. Understandable. But he wants J to be happy, so he follows the plan. Plus he’s one of the few characters to be confirmed to like boys, (along with David and Ace but neither really fit this role).

Aaron Samuels: I ship Minruko so of course I made Min Teruko’s love interest. There’s a scene in the musical where they talk about how Aaron’s hair looks ‘better pushed back’ which made me think of Min’s bangs and how Arei would want her to show off her pretty eyes. Aaron also tutors Cady in Math, which would definitely work for Min, since she’s the Ultimate Student and was helping another student study in her bonus episode. The main reason Regina wants to date Aaron in Mean Girls, other than to make Cady mad or jealous or whatever, is because he’s popular and hot. And Min has got that second thing down so good enough. I’d imagine dating the most popular girl in school would make Min rather popular by association anyway, so I don’t think it’s too big an issue that she’s not a football player that everyone wants to date or whatever.

And that’s it. This AU is…kind of a mess, but I like it. If you have any arguments for why certain drdt characters should be switched around or if any characters not mentioned should be casted, I’d love to hear them! I know making two of the ‘mean girls’ trio boys is a little strange but I thought they fit the roles best. Plus I had fun imagining them gender swapped.

[nadia-zahra]

The Rain Fight and my new take on it

while rereading my analysis on st3 Mike and the rain fight I had a lil "oh shit I have a different view on this now" moment.

In my analysis, I said it was miscommunication, and to some extent, it is... just not in the way I've explained previously.

My og take was that it was Mike taking Will's, "you're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!" as 'you're ruining everything because you like making out with El who is stupid' instead of what Will really meant: you're ruining everything because you're straight. And then I wrote off Mike's response of "El's not stupid and it's not my fault you don't like girls" as him trying to say 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' instead of 'it's not my fault you're gay'

But nowadays I'm like 95% sure that this fight was in fact "you're ruining everything because you like girls" "it's not my fault you're gay".

First off, MIKE IS GAY (imo) and, atp in the show, he was battling against internalized homophobia. His response of "...it's not my fault you don't like girls" sounds like hardcore projecting; especially when we know it's in response to Will taking a stab at Mike's sexuality.

Here's where I think the miscommunication lies: neither Mike nor Will know they are both 1) in the closet 2) into each other. Both of them just think the other is straight, and are alone in their feelings for the other.

So when Will said, "You're ruining everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!", he wasn't intentionally going below the belt because he genuinely thinks Mike is straight and into El. However, from Mike's pov that was basically getting called out for using El as a beard. Mike got so freaking defensive from Will's words because he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he's gay or selfishly using El.

Mike projects at Will, "It's not my fault you don't like girls," and also unintentionally hits below the belt because he thinks Will is straight and just hasn't gotten past the 'ewww cooties' stage of childhood. Will is canonically gay, so his reaction to this makes sense-- he takes it as 'it's not my fault you're gay' and becomes stunned by the fact his crush/bff (the guy who's protected him from homophobic bullies) is now spewing the same homophobic bullshit.

However, Mike's response to Will's reaction doesn't make sense... unless he's gay and still projecting his true desires, making them seem like ridiculous hypotheticals. *cough* Wanting to spend the rest of their lives together playing dnd and subtly saying they'd live together forever *cough*. And Will's response of "Yeah I guess I did. I really did" thankfully doesn't have any blurred lines to read through and he really is just stating, 'yeah, I really thought we'd be together forever'.

Second off, I think I had that initial perspective on the rain fight because the duffers said (back when this was still a hot topic) that this was supposed to be taken simply as Mike meaning 'it's not my fault you haven't grown up yet' because Will's sexuality was still in the dark atp in time and they've been known to bend the truth in order to not spoil anything. However, with hindsight (and confirmation that Will is gay) we know Will took it as Mike being a homophobe.

So, with that being said, Mike's pov on the rainfight is still kinda in murky waters-- no one fully knows why tf he said what he said or how he took Will's words.

The last thing I'm going to say in this unplanned analysis, so that way I can go back to prepping for my s4 Mike analysis is this: If in st5 when it's revealed Mike has feelings for Will and is gay (or some type of queer person), does this mean that with hindsight we'll be able to know exactly what was being said in the rain fight?

[asktheahogesandblondes]

Usually, this isn't a question typically asked, but what is the time difference from your perspective in receiving & replying to these posts compared to us? As for us, it has already been a couple of days. Seemingly, from your perspective, it has been a few minutes, at least for the whole body switching. Could it perhaps fluctuate depending on a set amount of asks? Anyway, enough being a nerd, and here is another question (for all). What's your favorite movie, whether live-action or animated?

Shuichi:We don't really know, being honest when we started this blog we didn't expect people of other universes to ask us things, so we didn't really know that even time runs different from you guys...or for use to get body swapped.

Miu:If I had to guess, maybe how many we receive does affect it? I mean this shit is news for us.

Hajime:But the good thing is this is close to blowing off early and without much trouble for us...which is a plus because things would been hard to explain.

Natsumi:And thanks Makoto and Despair Bitch for handling things while we were uh...busy.

Shuichi:And if you're wondering why they aren't here, well they want to take the chance to experience doing...yourself, so sadly they won't be here in person to answer your question.

Miu:And yeah, don't worry Mr. Magical dragon guy, she is having a taste of the good shit right now. Anyways my favorite movie is...I guess the Equestria Girls franchise as a whole.

Shuichi:Mine is the Sonic OVA.

Hajime:Mine is Dragon Ball Super Broly.

Natsumi:I don't exactly have a favorite, I mean I do watch some Mafia movies for shit and giggles but not exactly favorites...

I hope a universe doesn't explode because my lackluster answer.

Miu:And to not leave your answer incomplete we gonna message Makoto and Despair Bitch to ask them...*Messages them*

...Oh.

Shuichi:What's wrong?

Miu:I gotta watch out because Junko is mad at me for interrupting them...

Natsumi:...Well, it was nice knowing ya.

Shuichi:...Well, Junko's favourite movie is home alone, while Makoto says he doesn't have an absolute favourite and the answer changes depending of his mood, though he did say he likes Robocop....and he also Hopes a universe doesn't explode for his lack of an actual answer.

Miu:I just hope to live another day before Despair bitch kills me.

Shuichi:I don't think she will follow up on that...or at least Makoto won't let her.

*M/A Counter:1*

((Author notes here because I feel leaving this in the tags isn't really appropriate, how much time passes between asks is really up the air and what I think at the time, since I do these without any planning at all, it only ended up being a few hours in universe cause the "Sairuma and Hinatsumi railing each other"...subplot I guess happened, though if someone had asked them a question I would have them answer.

Also if I took a bit too long in answering, it's honestly cause I blanked in terms of what movies would they like, granted Junko has a canon favourite (home alone) and Makoto does mention he likes Robocop but I'm not much of a movie guy, so that's why I took so long))

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 14- Part 1

Ah, look at that resolution- yeah, the white bar at the top is a little inconvenient, but it’s a minor thing compared to everything. I know I could crop it out, but I specifically used this new method to minimize the amount of cropping I had to do, so I’m not gonna bother with it. 

Anyways, our newest destination is Jasper Ward, and I remember exactly where we need to go! So let’s get going, back to Peridot Ward!

And there’s the entry tunnel! I didn’t go inside of it back then because…well, the dialogue from the NPCs implied I wouldn’t get very far, so I didn’t see much point in it. But now, we’ve got the plot on our side, so we can go as far as we want!

…Hey, wait- why is Jasper the green-colored ward? Shouldn’t it be more like…red or orange or reddish-orange, like actual jaspers are? The other wards- namely Obsidia, Onyx, and Coral- have color associations that make sense for the minerals they’re named after, so what’s up with this one? Heck- if you really think about it, the colors for Peridot and Jasper Wards would make more sense if they were swapped, since peridots are typically some flavor of green. 

Honestly, if Lapis Ward isn’t associated with blue, I’m gonna be…at least somewhat mildly miffed. Anyways, enough outta me, into the tunnel we go-

Another guard, huh? I hope this one doesn’t try to impede us like the one at Obsidia Ward did- we’ve got Florinia’s permission, so it should be fine, right?

“Kerfuffle” is…definitely one word to use to describe what happened.

Here’s the question I have right now: is it just one PULSE machine doing this, or is it two, one for each ward? Like, how widespread is the range of this particular PULSE? I think it was implied back in Obsidia Park that the Tangrowth PULSE’s reach and power has limitations, but the fact that the PULSE Dex called it “05C” implies there are A and B variants as well, which might be even stronger…

Oh dear, so Team Meteor’s body count is increasing ever higher? Are we gonna see plant-entagled corpses as we explore these wards? Seems like the kinda thing a game advertised as being darker than the canon games might do.

Um- yeah! Of course, officer! Xera’s got two out of eighteen Gym Badges, that makes her qualified to handle this…yeah, definitely…

Ah, shoot- the timing of taking screenshots with this program is a little different from how I was doing it before. Guess I’ll have to get used to it.

Anyways, through the gate and into the light we go…into a new area of devastation!

AH, CHILD JUMPSCARE! Who is she? And…the heck is Corey doing over there? Mm- wait, is this…?

Aha, I do remember Corey mentioning having a daughter a little while ago. So that’s her, huh? Definitely more…pink than I was expecting, I can tell which parent she doesn’t get her looks from.

But like- Corey, my man, Jasper Ward is apparently almost abandoned, if there are any degenerates in this city, they’re not here. Jasper Ward is completely dangerous and unfit for children for entirely different reasons!

I mean, Xera’s hardly a stranger. Corey knows who she is, he knows she’s at least slightly trustworthy- she helped him get his medicine back that one time, and she kept quiet about his business in the Obsidia Slums. That’s gotta count for something, yeah?

Ah, she is stricken with adolescence- something even a doctor like Corey can’t deal with using just medicine.

Next

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Reasons not to watch Peter Pan and Wendy

1. It's another Disney ''live-action'' reboot. ''Live-action'' in air quotes because you just know a terrible CGI will show up eventually.

''It's not even out yet. Why are you hating it already? You HAVE to watch it first!''

No, I don't! Every single one of those remakes ranged from meh to terrible pieces of shit! The only ones I liked were the 101 Dalmatians movies from the 90s and early 2000s, before the dark times. All those remakes encouraged me to do is get myself physical copies of the original movies before the Chinese puppet censures them all.

''Stop comparing them to the originals! They're their own think.''

No, they're not! If they're supposed to be their own thing why do they go almost exactly the same as the original plot, why do they use the iconic imagery and music instead of creating their own (Why not change Belle's dress from golden to blue?)?

Just the idea of turning these beloved classics into live-action is an insult to animation and creativity. Imagine in place of every lazy remake there was an original animated movie. Not all of them would've been good. But people wouldn't hate them just for existing.

''But what about kids now? They deserve to see those classic stories.''

Yes, they do! So show them the originals, they still hold up! Are you worried about outdated stuff like language, stereotypes, smoking, etc? Then maybe explain this stuff. Or watch other live-action or animated versions. Disney isn't the only company that makes movies.

2. It looks like shit!

Disney remakes are notorious for being ugly and dark.

I don't mean dark as in dark themes, stories, and moments. They try but usually, they fall flat on their faces. Making awe-inspiring and funny moments creepy and ugly, and moments that are supposed to be scary and dramatic end up being funny. Mufasa's death original vs reboot, anyone?

When I say they're dark, as soon as a scene is at night or in a cave you can't see shit!

3. Race swaps.

''So, you're a racist !?!''

No! Shut up! To hell with this argument! I'm sick and tired of giving valid and logical criticism and Disney defenders brushing it off as people just being racist.

Don't you think people deserve their own characters instead of getting sloppy seconds?

''But there is so little representation! I just take what they give at this point. I don't care about the story as long as there are POCs on screen! - Insert iconic white character- is Black now, die mad about it racists!''

I'm sorry but you're part of the problem! If you're fine with race swaps of the white characters then companies have no reason to create original ones. If you will watch anything with anyone of the same race as you in it, producers will just put them in, without carrying about the story. That's how we end up with pointless token characters and bad stories.

There is not enough representation? Just google a movie, a show, a book, a comic, etc.

People aren't mad at the Black fairies and mermaids. They're mad because Disney's Tinkerbell is a white blond and Ariel is a white redhead. If they changed Tinkerbell into a redhead and Ariel into a blond people would still be mad. 

If someone race-swapped them or changed really anything about these characters in a way that fans don't like there would've been a backlash.

There are plenty of stories from all over the world! It's the 21st century! Just use the internet! Or make something up! But then it wouldn't have a brand recognition and making original scripts is hard and long work and Disney needs to make 10 movies and shows in a year!

People are trained like dogs at this point!

Disney puts out a trailer for their remake with all the race and sex changes front and center.

Some people love it. Some people hate it.

Controversy ensues!

The trailer is dunked on.

''Give it a chance!'' people start to defend the movie.

The movie comes out and is just as bad as every other remake. And it would've been bad with or without those pointless changes.

4. Lost boys are not all boys.

Some idiot tried to argue that because there are women in the x-men team there is no reason to be upset over the lost boys having girls in them.

First of all, ‘’men’’ can be used as a synonym for people, humankind.

The x-men had female characters from the beginning.

Peter Pan already has female representation! You have Tiger Lily, Wendy, and Tinkerbell.

There is a bunch of stories with all-female groups or at least one girl in a group but as soon as there is an all-male thing Twitter screams.

The explanation as to why all the lost boys were lost in the first plays is because they were stupid and hyperactive and fell off their prams.

Nice going Disney, all those diverse characters were morons as babies. And it's true, everybody can be stupid, especially when they're just babies. But I can guarantee they will never show them being immature and childlike like in the original.  

Also, the lost boys were inspired by real boys. And I can guarantee when people learn about their tragic backstories there will be a lot of angry people. Just like after they turned Peter Pan into a villain and everybody learned about the backstory of his voice actor.  

Let the shitstorm begin! I'll be watching from the sideline.