#man that was one hell of a rant

[rayatii]

You know that trope in so many kids shows where one episode revolves around a character who refuses to eat something even tho they usually haven't tried it before, and everyone else tries to convince them to try it, until they relent and decide that they like said food?

Well, kid me used to despise these episodes (and I still feel iffy about them to this day); as someone who was (and still is!) a "picky eater", I took these kinds of episodes as a personal attack, bc I could/can usually tell what I will/won't like based on smell and texture (ye typical autistic stuff), and these episodes felt to me as if they were pointedly discrediting my daily game of "try not to puke".

I understand that there is a difference between not judging anything without trying it (which is a typical kid thing; I have definitely been guilty of that), and being forced to eat something which you can sense that you will despise. But little me didn't see the difference back then, so yeah.

(I think some of that ire was directed at an episode of the French cartoon Petit Potam, that I grew up with, in which the titular character complains about eating certain stuff for lunch (including but not limited to Brussels sprouts), because he'd rather eat his favorite dessert, and his parents are constantly ordering him angrily to clear his plate. At one point, he does put a bunch of Brussels sprouts in his mouth and complains about not liking it as he chews, and eventually spits everything on someone who happens to be visiting, and is grounded for it. But the thing is, by the end of the episode I don't think the main character decides on whether or not he's willing to eat "disgusting food" or whatever (or if it does, it's very vague to me), so I find it very intriguing now that I'm thinking about it.)

I wanna do something that subverts this trope in a way; a character says they don't want to try some food bc they're repulsed by the smell and/or texture. Everyone else around them insists that they just tRY iT, and they relent. About a minute after the character in question swallows a portion of said food (which they still don't like), they start feeling queasy, and then they puke everything out. Sometimes our stomach simply does not agree; it's in our DNA.

It's mind-blowing to me that some ADULT people are apparently still not aware of the difference between two situations I talked about earlier (being fussy for the sake of being fussy VS having actual sensory issues when it comes to food), bc I'm still in the process of de-conditioning myself from the vague notion that these shows instilled in me being a picky eater/not liking many foods/not always being willing to try new foods makes me a bad person of some sort (obviously they never say that outright, but it felt this way to me all the same), and from what I've seen, many autistic/neurodivergent people are having this same issue.

[dlartistanon]

Seeing them in RS reminded me how good their dynamic is. I will not stand for Zofia erasure. Zofia is the one who has mentored and supported Maria all this time. Zofia openly shows her care and concern and was willing to die with Maria just so she wouldn't be alone.

[bonetrousledbones]

so when are we gonna start appreciating undertale AUs for fueling a metric fuck ton of the creativity and longevity of the fandom because if i see one more person calling them the cringiest part of the last 8 years i might lose it

[qcomicsy]

I DON'T give a shit, a flying single fuck about how reboots Marvel has for Deadpool, I don't give a flying single damn if his mind is fucked up if memories keep recreating themselves NO origin story for Wade is ever going to hit as harder than losing his mother for cancer and having a militar father, just to him to end up serving the military like his father before him and then right after being expelled he dicovers he has cancer.

Than him being a child that liked "supposedly" girly and feminine things and only feeling comfortable in showing this side of him as a joke.

Do not fucking touch me this is poetic narrative Marvel how the fuck can you fuck something so badly in the name of badly written stories and poorly planed jokes I'm biting your editorial team's emails.

[loganswdc]

so....! yesterday's race was.... something....

firstly LET'S GO OSCAR !!!! HECK YEAH I'M SO PROUD OF HIM I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT TO SEE HIM WIN HIS FIRST RACE !??!?!?! i do feel awful for lando ,, that entire situation created by mclaren was entirely unnecessary . their bullshit reason saying they needed to cover hamilton hence why lando got pitted first is so stupid -- it's like they realized they messed up and suddenly needed to come up with something to explain it .

it's especially frustrating because that entire mess that mclaren created only made it so that no matter what happened , fans would be mad: if lando won , people would be pissed that oscar didn't get his first win . oscar won , and now people are pissed that lando didn't win . and the entire win for oscar just doesn't feel the way it should: the energy surrounding his first win isn't as positive and exciting as it should be .

and that genuinely makes me so sad for oscar , because i know he's been waiting for this day . he's been waiting for his first win , and it's completely dampened and stomped on because of mclaren's awful strategy calls near the end . i was genuinely yelling at the screen when they pitted lando first , because what was that for ?? why pit him first ?? he did NOT need to cover hamilton , like there was genuinely no need for that . they were leagues away and lando was fast enough that he could have pitted second and still gotten p2 , or lando and oscar could have actually fought for p1 . and it wouldn't have had this bad , awkward energy around it like it does now .

mclaren seriously needs to get their shit together because they're only harming both of their drivers through these things . and them airing out dirty laundry (considering how they were saying "you need the team to win this championship" or how his race engineer mentioned the morning debriefs , etc. etc.) and trying to guilt trip lando over the radio is actually insane !!

it was honestly just a mess .

i also lowkey found it so funny how lewis was trying to break the tension in the cooldown room and lando was just NOT having it . bro was so mad , he threw his p2 cap on the floor and lewis just side-eyed him 😭 multi-21 all over again literally and lewis is in the middle of it , poor guy HAHA

now on to logan's race !! i felt so bad for him , i know he could have done well but unfortunately he had a really bad start and it all just went downhill from there :( the tyre strategy they had him on was... it actually pulled out of no man's land . i genuinely don't get what they were trying to go for there . it seriously sucks man , this weekend was almost his weekend and then it all went to hell 😭 his post-race interview broke me , too . the fact he looked like he was about to sob and said that start will haunt him ... please someone give him a HUG i need him to know we're so proud of him no matter what . shit start or not he did everything he could to fight for positions in that race :(

i was genuinely so confused about what their thought process was ,, and then the fact that logan had to pit for softs at the end because his hard tyres were destroyed... ugh . and we know logan is good at tyre management !! like that man gets a new set of tyres and he is gonna treat em REAL GOOD . so it just goes to show how much of a mess the tyre strategy was .

especially considering how on the radio alex was practically yelling at his engineer for being indecisive with the strategy , saying that the tyres are destroyed already and that they need to be more sure with what they want to do . williams seriously needs to start listening to both their drivers , honestly . it's incredible to me that this tyre fiasco happens SO often on race weekends . they need to get it fixed , and they need to fix it now.

also the fact we found out that alex's teammate is going to be revealed in two weeks... i am actually terrified !! i need either logan to stay with williams and they pull themselves together or he goes to another team that will treat him better .

overall this race was just . it was something . exciting for oscar , but still dampened by mclaren's mess ups and logan's race was doomed from the beginning , both because of his unfortunate start and tyre strat :/

hopefully next week will be better , for everyone , and the teams will get their shit together !!

and that concludes my weekly rant session , thank you very much for reading <3

[rants-about-opm]

Rating OPM Characters Solely On How Good Their Fan Art Usually Is

Saitama- 7/10, lots of fun headcanons, but also a lot of really terrible outfits and out of character interactions. Sometimes they make him smile like a normal person and it scares me.

Genos- 2/10 Ya'll be waaay too thirsty, I am so tired of seeing this man half dressed on my timeline, at least tell me something you think is cool about him (you aren't allowed to mention his looks.)

Garou- 6/10 also a lot of horny posting with him, but usually it's cool anatomy studies so that makes it a little more bearable, plus I think he's cooler than Genos so I'm innately biased.

Fubuki, Psykos, Tatsumaki- 0/10 Go to horny jail.

Mumen Rider- 8/10, not enough of him, but what I do see is usually pretty dope. Artists seem to be more creative with characters they aren't horny for.

Manako- 10/10 I have never seen a bad post about pink flesh grape, she's got some funny ass fans.

Flash and Sonic- 0/10 Go to horny jail.

[ahaha-ahahaha]

yeah new favourite little guy. no don't look in my reblogs.

[sad-endings-suck]

Blue Eye Samurai: regarding Mizu’s “plot armour” or her “ridiculously over-powered” abilities.

“Mizu is way too overpowered, it doesn’t make sense.”

I feel like a lot of people don’t realize just how much the mind over matter mentality plays a roll in Mizu’s “abilities”. Mizu isn’t the best because she’s physically the strongest, or had the best training, or the most experience, or whatever. Mizu is the best because she has single-minded focus and immense tenacity that borders on psychotic due to how intensely dedicated to revenge she has been for almost all of her life. All the years she spent training, all the time she spends taking out enemies, she is being driven by single minded focus and iron willed determination that never wavers. She has been sharpening and honing not just her body, but her mind, for exactly this. She has dedicated her entire life to her quest for vengeance, and in her own words, there is no room in it for anything else.

People also seem to be making a lot of assumptions about what kind of training and how much training Mizu has or has not had. As the audience, we’ve only been shown bits and pieces of Mizu’s past, which includes her experience learning martial arts. Asking shit like “how is she so good with a sword if she’s only self taught?” is like asking “how can she read and write if Master Eiji is blind?”. The answer is that Mizu has obviously learnt these things from more than one source, but documenting her entire education in detail doesn’t exactly serve a purpose to the narrative. We are explicitly shown in one of Mizu’s flashbacks that she’s been practicing with a wooden sparring sword since she was very young. It’s actually her child self that we see in that brief particular flashback. Not her teen/tween self, her child self. She’s also following the movements and instructions of an older man that is clearly a skilled samurai or warrior of some kind based on context (which y’all love to ignore). Besides, who else would want/need a sword from a master sword-maker besides an expert swordsman? How many skilled fighters from all over Japan have come to Master Eiji’s forge hoping for a blade, and wait with nothing better to do but train while their blade is being made? How many of them have divulged information about certain fighting styles (like Shindo-Ryu, which Mizu was familiar with despite never having been to the dojo before). Or practiced around her and with her? We are clearly shown through Mizu’s flashbacks that receiving training from a visiting client has not been unusual for her throughout her apprenticeship with Master Eiji, and her little spar with Blood Soaked Chiaki was no one time event. Yet Mizu is never given the benefit of the doubt by the audience, despite context clues indicating that she should be.

“Taigen has way more training in an actual dojo, so why is Mizu better?”

Whereas Taigen, while he was determined to become more than just a fisherman’s son and was driven to rise through the ranks of the Dojo and become a skilled samurai, did not have that same desire or determination to hone every part of himself to be the most deadly weapon he could possibly be, like Mizu did. Taigen believes in the samurai code of honor and upholds it in his own way (preventing him from learning how to “fight dirty” so to speak) and he also had a life outside of his training (he had a social life, he drank, he partied, he snuck around a lot to see Akemi presumably, etc). In fact, we actually never see Taigen practice, train, learn, hone his skills, or anything (to my recollection) throughout the whole season, until he’s bested by Mizu in combat. I’m assuming Taigen had to work quite hard for several years to become as good as he is, but I get the sense that ever since he has been regarded as a prodigy he has allowed himself to get cocky and maybe a bit too comfortable. He has always been the best and always thought himself to be the best, so he never needed to give 150% effort when he fought. In fact, as he got older and more practiced, and it became more and more apparent how much better he was than everyone else, he probably stopped giving his 110% and allowed himself to get a bit comfortable putting in 100% effort, and then eventually 80% effort (which is part of the reason why I think he’s so pissed he lost to Mizu in their first fight, because he knows he could have done better: been less cocky, been more tactical, more driven, etc).

We also never see Taigen meditate or mentally or physically prepare himself the way we do with Mizu. Mizu will pray before a major upcoming battle, not because she’s religious, but because she’s mentally, emotionally, and spiritually preparing herself. We even see Mizu submerge herself in very cold ocean water (during the winter mind you) as a ritual/practice of sorts that serves to center herself and prepare mentally and physically for what’s ahead when she feels herself getting “too emotional” or too stressed or unfocused or even just slightly off kilter. Mizu sacrifices every part of her life, so that she can be the deadliest version of herself possible. She has no social life. She has no friends, or significant others (Mikio aside). She has no other activities to participate in, because she’s been completely alienated and thus being anything but the best is not an option in her mind because she has no options. She tried married life. She had the best possible life that she could have had as a biracial woman in Edo era Japan. She did as she was told by her “mother”. She showed her true self to Mikio, just as he desired. Yet the blood and vengeance still caught up with her. She has no other options anymore. Pursuing revenge is the only thing she knows how to do, because every other avenue in life has been cut off from her. So she has to be single-mindedly focused on her vengeance, which means being as skilled and as dangerous as she can possibly be. She has no hobbies or jobs or responsibilities beyond sword-making (which allows her to become as familiar with the blade as possible) and training herself. If she has extra time, she uses it to practice, to train, to improve, to simply maintain peak performance. Such as when she was hacking through those trees in episode 2. Afterwards, we see Taigen attempt to replicate her training (by cutting down trees with his sword). Though even then, it was more about curiosity and trying to suss out Mizu so he could gauge her skill level, then it was about actually honing his own abilities (until episode 3 when he practices with Chiaki’s broken blade). Which does count as training in its own way (assessing your enemy), but my point still stands. Taigen does not have the same unwavering focus and force of will that Mizu does (partially because he does not actually want to kill Mizu, as we do see Taigen go cold blooded with focus when he kills Heiji Shindo, but those are whole other discussions).

“Mizu just has ridiculous plot armour, that’s the real reason she survives every encounter.”

I feel like people that think Mizu has ridiculous plot armour are just not at all familiar with the Samurai or Western/Cowboy sub-genres at all, or even action as an overarching genre on its own. I don’t believe I have ever engaged in a single piece of action media in which the protagonist didn’t have “plot armour” in some way. Basically half of all male protagonists from any and all modern western action movies ever, have been way too over-powered and been able to take a ridiculous amount of damage that should have killed them multiple times over. These action heroes (who in western media are almost always cis-het white men) have ridiculous plot armour in the most classic sense. Yet no one complains when it’s a white man. Only when it’s a queer-coded biracial woman of colour. Shocking.

In fact, you could argue that every main character in every fictional story ever told has plot armour to a certain degree, because having an entire narrative revolve around one character is inherently “unrealistic” and therefore the main character has plot armour, yes? No? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Oh, and on the topic of the samurai genre specifically (and many martial arts based action media) there are certain genre specific tropes that are nearly integral to the genre. One of the most prominent being the samurai/ronin/warrior/martial arts master that is “ridiculously over powered”. It’s literally part of the genre. In fact, the western/cowboy genre is quite similar to the classic samurai genre. Now, how many westerns have you watched in which Clint Eastwood or John Wayne shoot 5+ guys with one pistol before any of the guys they shoot even get a shot off? A lot I bet. Is that not the definition of “over-powered” and “unrealistic”? Or is it just a genre trope, or even perhaps, a genre staple? No one thinks Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2) is over-powered. No one thinks that Joel (The Last of Us) is over-powered. In fact, when the TLOU show came out, people actually complained that Joel, the fifty-something year old man that has been living in a post apocalyptic wasteland for 20 years, was not badass or strong enough (he kills dozens of humans and super zombies and he’s legally a senior). So, who is the “judge” of what is and is not realistic in action media that borders on sci-fi/fantasy based on how “over-powered” the protagonists “realistically” are?

“It’s just weird that Mizu is so powerful when other characters within the story are not. It makes Mizu such a Mary Sue.”

Okay… so, with all that in mind, let’s circle back to where I started when referring to Mizu as someone driven by unwavering determination, and how that affects her “abilities”. That facet of her personality and motivation is nothing new when it comes to the action genre, especially for protagonists of revenge storylines. Think of Kill Bill or John Wick. Why does John or the Bride keep going and keep winning even when they are constantly getting injured and always fighting. Is it because they are simply that much better than everyone else? Yes and no. No, because they are not superheroes (technically), but also yes. Because their single minded determination and need for revenge drives them to push that much harder than anyone else on their skill level. They are the best, but they win against everyone else that is also “the best” because they want it more. They need it more. Mind over matter. They are willing to endure what others are not through sheer will and pure cold rage. Mizu, Beatrice Kiddo, John Wick, and so many more similar protagonists in action-revenge narratives don’t keep winning and keep getting back up no matter how inured they get because they are just “that much stronger and more talented than everyone else”. Yes, they are extremely skilled and would probably be one of the strongest and most deadly combatants/killers in their respective universes regardless… but their refined skill and raw talent and power are not the only reason they win. Their unwavering force of will, extreme determination, ice cold fury, and single-minded focus on revenge is what drive them to be that much tougher. Their tenacity is their superpower. They want to win more than their opponent does. They need to win, because this is their one and only goal in life as of now. Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai) Beatrice (Kill Bill), John (John Wick), they all share a philosophy in life when it comes to their revenge, which basically boils down to “Either I kill you, or I die trying. There is no middle ground, there is no negotiating, no other choice, no path of least resistance, no other goal or motivation. You will die, because I ain’t fucking dying until you do.”

Mizu doesn’t have plot armour and she’s not over-powered. She is an archetypical protagonist of the action-revenge narrative and the samurai/western genre as well. She arguably even has better reason to be completing the feats that she does than John Wick or The Bride, because the medium of Blue Eye Samurai is animation and not live action, and the genre borders on magical realism far more than Kill Bill or John Wick. Now, how many anime protagonists (probably almost all male) can you think of that are “ridiculously over-powered” especially compared to any live action counterparts, but no one complains about it? Why does no one complain about it (aside from misogyny)? Because the medium of animation inherently has different “rules”, expectations, and set standards for suspension of disbelief, than the medium of live action film or television. For example, is it ridiculous and unrealistic when you’re watching a Looney Tunes cartoon and Bugs Bunny’s legs pinwheel in super-speed for 3 seconds straight before he starts running, or when he runs off a ledge and gravity just lets him hang there for a sec so he can look straight at the camera before he falls? No, it’s not “unrealistic” or emersion breaking, not even a little, but why? Is it because any of those things seem even remotely probable or “realistic”? Of course not! It’s perfectly acceptable because the medium, genre, target audience, atmosphere, art/animation style, narrative choice, storytelling style, and more, have all established that Bugs Bunny defying physics is normal in Looney Tunes, and therefore not a “plot-hole” or “unrealistic”. In fact, if Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry didn’t defy physics in ridiculous ways all the time, then it feels far stranger and off-beat than if they did. Same goes for pretty much all action anime. If the characters in those stories were strictly limited to what is 100% humanly possible in real life, most of those animes wouldn’t even have storylines anymore. They’d be turned into completely different content that may be unrecognizable from the original source material. Or wouldn’t even have any material anymore because all the characters would be dead after their first fight scene. So why is Blue Eye Samurai being held to a different standard?

Now, do y’all get it yet?

[kittyloops]

the honest to god worship of kenny in some twdg spaces needs to be studied... are we forgetting the everything about him being a complex and nuanced character or am i just insane. this man is NOT a hero he is literally just on a downward spiral

[valewritessss]

Okay I understand the confusion of “lose” and “loose”(I don’t) but “YOUR” AND “YOU’RE”???

Are we actually being serious? Is it laziness or did we actually forget first grade spelling class. I’m not talking about non-native speakers but the ones that only know English what are we doing? Same thing with “two”, “too”, and “to”. What kind of epidemic are we living through because there’s no way you’re not understand the difference.

And I tried to be understanding at first because I know a lot of people who aren’t fluent in English or just didn’t grow up with it, my family included. But for my friends that have lived here their whole lives and have never spoken another language this is an issue. Every time one of them writes “your” but they mean “you’re”, a small fragment of my soul fades. “You’re house” am I??? The little blue dots underline the word as I write this.

When I say it’s going to be rare to know how to properly write in the future I was not kidding. Some mistakes are just mistakes but there’s people that never get it right, not even once. Once again, this doesn’t apply to the non native speakers. Although I must say, my mom has very limited English vocabulary but she knows the difference.

Do you know how much I cringed while revising my friend’s final essay. He was complaining that his English teacher scolded him for writing “u” instead of “you” and it was hard to keep my mouth shut— I repeat it was his final essay, and the final draft. And it’s not the way we’ve been taught it, because I know a handful of people that understand grammar and the majority of us have been taught the same thing in the same classroom.

I know people who brag about not knowing multiplication by 4, but that’s a different conversation.

I was born here, but I grew up only speaking Spanish until I started school and I’m thriving, so maybe it’s just me that can’t comprehend how someone who was born and raised here, whose entire family only knows English, who only writes in English can’t understand the difference between “you’re” and “your”. If there’s actually something that prevents you from learning it or understanding it then this isn’t about you either. I am talking about the people who just don’t care to learn or who don’t try at all. No one else other than that.

I’m sorry for this rant but I’m not because it had to be said. I apologize if it’s controversial but I just had to share. I’m not the queen of English grammar either but I know the basics (the bare minimum). For the final time, I am not talking about non-native speakers, or people genuinely have a hard time learning this stuff or remembering it. Take what I said with a grain of salt but my opinion remains and I express it shamelessly.

[penofwildfire]

Y'know I'm pretty sure obsessively thinking about a lego cartoon all day every day for over a decade to the point that it's a key part of your entire personality and one of the first things people know about you is just. Not a very allistic thing to do. Y'know? You understand me?

[claudiaeparvier]

I hope Claudia escapes the afterlife and eats some of you fr

[runawaymun]

.

[one-winged-dreams]

I'm not bitter :) <- has to keep seeing Gallagher get left out of Penacony fan merch

[katyspersonal]

Also as if this day wasn't lgbt enough while walking back home, due to how I've organised my hair and the clothes I was wearing today apparently, I swear my shadow looked like Midra. Like, I just saw it and it was so much his silhouette (minus briars of course) that it caused me pang of pain so intense I wanted to drop on my knees dsfhdfsh Oh to have a body of an old frail man.

[harveyverse]

everytime i read from someone here who saw the outsiders live i am 1) super fucking happy for them because i’d sell my soul to see that and 2) super fucking sad because i’d sell my soul to see that. but i live in europe and life is fucking Expensive so no broadway for me 😭 or any good shows that aren’t translated into german