#my mom was just as emotionally neglecting as he was. i like telling the story ab how she had me stitch up my own wound when i was 8

[dipyronegirl]

thinking (and rewatching..) inside job again and i dont think rand is that bad of a father? i mean, he made a lot of mistakes and he doesn’t even feel bad ab it, even tho he traumatized reagan and a lot, but he was never absent. he acts like he cared ab reagan’s career just bc it could help his career, but that’s not true. he pushes her to be the best all the time and it’s bad, but he genuinely cares ab her so much. and the whole ‘creating crises to force her to hang out w him’ thing is fucked up, but it’s cute that he just wants to hang out w her that bad. most fathers literally don’t care enough ab their kids to do any of that. most fathers don’t even know their kids as much as he knows her. maybe my standards are just insanely low, probably, but he’s a better parent than 90% of the parents i know

[illputdownmyrootswhenimdead]

thinking about my ocs lads

[sapphic-agent]

Can you please get into how much the fandom demonizes Rei? Like, I’m not disagreeing that she wasn’t the best mother. But people really turn this woman (who is financially, socially, AND emotionally dependent on her husband and Clan!) into some abusive mother who WANTED to burn Shoto’s face! When it’s obvious that she was begging her mother to take her away from the house because she was too stressed out from Endeavor’s influence and Touya’s death!

I don’t know, I just think she’s not a perfect mother, but nobody can be a perfect mother. She clearly did her best with what she had, and who would’ve believed her if she said Endeavor was an abusive husband and father? The police? Other heroes? No! I bet Endeavor would’ve claimed that SHE was the terrible parent and that she was suffering from PPSD (which, she probably was, four kids, two of which were born when Endeavor started getting obsessed with overcoming All Might? She definitely had that) and she would’ve ended up in the hospital no matter what.

Let's talk about it😈

So I was actually skimming through the manga where Shoto mentions this. He says that his mother was pushed and pushed by Endeavor until she just broke. And I love this because Shoto understands that his mom was in a shitty situation and never intended to hurt him. Unlike this shitty fandom, he's aware enough to see who was the abuser and who was the one who made a mistake.

Let's go over Rei's past for a minute. She:

Grew up in an environment that was at the best neglectful and at the worst abusive

Was sold like an object (and yes this is canon, the Himura Clan canonically sells their children it was a forced marriage, not an arranged marriage)

Married Endeavor and had Touya at 18

Already, she was dealt a shitty hand. Endeavor is also four years older than her, so he was 22 while she was only barely an adult. Even outside her being bought by him, there's a huge power imbalance here. Even if he was polite and nice in the beginning, she was at a major disadvantage in their "relationship."

One of my gripes with Horikoshi and the later parts of the manga is the retcon of the Todoroki past. How Shoto tells the story and how it's portrayed later are very different.

In Shoto's version, Endeavor hit Rei for defending him from Endeavor. In the Touya flashback, she tripped. In Shoto's version, Endeavor only saw his children as means to an end. In the Touya flashback, he's portrayed as caring about them. In Shoto's version, there's a menacing and villainous aura surrounding Endeavor. In the Touya flashback he's portrayed normally.

And this is done to make Endeavor look more sympathetic. Which is bad not only because he was an abuser who doesn't deserve sympathy, it also antagonizes Touya and Rei in the process.

(People could argue that Shoto's love for his mother and young age make him an unreliable narrator. But to me this is dismissing the victim. Shoto might have been young, but he recalls enough to tell it in excruciating detail. It was a huge part of his life and writing it off like that does him a disservice)

So there are two instances specifically that people demonize Rei for.

1. Shoto's Burn

Now this is the one that is her responsibility. My thing is though... No one ever said it wasn't? Least of all Rei herself. Once she saw Shoto again, she immediately apologized. During the event itself, she realized what she did and broke down and tried to fix it. She also spent 10 years in asylum paying for what she did (which is more consequence than Endeavor faced btw).

The thing no one seems to acknowledge about this is that this didn't come from nowhere. She didn't do what she did out of cruelty or hatred towards her son. She did it because Endeavor had abused her to the point of insanity. To the point where even seeing them in her kids' faces caused her to have a complete mental breakdown. Which is understandable due to the physical, verbal, financial, and sexual abuse he was putting her through.

You know, there's an irl story like this. A woman was suffering from severe PPD and other mental issues after having four kids I think it was. Doctors and everyone repeatedly told her husband that she souldn't have more kids. He didn't listen (I'm not sure if SA was involved here but I'm inclined to believe it was) and they continued to have more. Eventually one day she snapped and killed her children.

PPD is seriously dangerous when it's left untreated, even worse when that isn't the only thing going on. Rei was no doubt suffering from the ramifications of that, but on top of everything else Endeavor out her through I can't believe she didn't break earlier.

2. Touya's Situation

It baffles that people find it in themselves to blame Rei but feel sympathy towards Endeavor over Touya.

Because on top of every instance of abuse I mentioned above, Rei was also taking care of four kids completely by herself. That would be hard even without her own and Touya's mental issues.

From the manga panel I provided, she was the only one between her and Endeavor taking Touya's mental well-being seriously. She knew how having more kids would affect him and she was right. She was the one who had to deal with Touya lashing out when Endeavor ignored him (which also contributed to her breaking down and burning Shoto due to Touya emulating Endeavor).

Rei is a character who's been judged so unfairly. Partly because Endeavor fanboys, partly because Dabi/Shoto fangirls, and completely because of the misogyny that runs rampant in this fandom. She deserved so much better.

I have a fic giving Rei the justice she deserves if anyone's interested. It features my OC who happens to be Rei's quirkless younger sister. Give it a read if you want

[m3nt4llyr4v3d]

Gabriel vs Chloe/Lila

I used to frequent the Miraculous subreddit (biggest mistake of my life) to see others opinions on Seasons 4 and 5. One question I would see pop up usually is as follows:

Why do people think Chloe/Lila is worse than Gabriel?

The common answer I’ve seen is that bullying and isolation are issues that the audience can relate to, something that’s more down to earth and closer to a viewer’s potential issues. Gabriel, meanwhile, is a supervillain who makes other ridiculously costumed supervillains when they feel bad, his situation was farther out, less relatable, so hammed up at times (cartoon and all) that people would take it less seriously.

And honestly? I completely understood this answer: many viewers’ overwhelming hatred of Chloe and Lila, from what I’ve seen, stemmed from personal relation to their victims, and their own experiences with bullies. It’s completely understandable why people would feel this way.

But then I thought about it for a second, and while I still understand that reasoning, I don’t understand it in any other context.

I mean, I’ve seen people on there genuinely say that Gabriel had more redeeming qualities than them, which confuses me. Lila I kind of understand, I mean we know literally nothing about this character, and the fandom reason of “she lies for attention because her mother is barely home”, which would give her sympathy, was a little… muddled, when it’s revealed she has 3 moms that she’s somehow lying to about being their daughter (what on earth) and has multiple identities. But Chloe? Season 2-3 was showing that she did have redeeming qualities, that she cared about people (few but regardless), she was even able to suck up her own pride when being a hero! Gabriel… He’s an odd case in which the story goes back and forth on whether he’s an awful irredeemable monster, or flawed but sympathetic dad trying his best, while also flip flopping on when exactly they want you to believe as much. Right now? He’s horrible, but the narrative want you to believe he’s just “trying his best” and thinks that he somehow has the room to ask Marinette to “tell Adrien to remember all the times I was a good father” (Marinette should’ve spat on his statue ngl)

Also, Gabriel is a neglectful, dare I say abusive father! Literally mind controls his son and is trying to control him to have the “destiny” that HE wants, not caring about his son at all. He literally pretends to bond with him at one point in Season 5 just so he could give him an alliance ring and walk off smirking, planning on akumatizing him (never brought up again btw). Like, I get that Hawkmoth is more of a hammy cartoon villain, and a lot of those aspect spill into Gabriel (I mean he had a silly stupid number near the beginning of season 5 that I hate to love). But the Gabriel half is genuinely horrible, and those aspects spill into Hawkmoth. Akumatizing, physically abusing your son, and ruining his relationship to akumatize his girlfriend in Chat Blanc, emotionally manipulating him with his dead mother in both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, literally any time he causes an akuma on purpose by ruining the life of someone he used to be close with or personally knows (the comedian, Andre, anyone working under him), emotionally manipulating his son AGAIN just so he could plan to akumatize him later, locking him up in a white room and emotionally depriving him of everything, literally everything he does in season 5 actually. I understand that some of his more atrocious actions are supervillain things, and that could be more difficult to relate to real life problems. But come on, “neglectful, abusive, controlling parent” is absolutely a real life issue that people have, and it’s a bit strange I haven’t seen that brought up more often

I’m not saying that Chloe and Lila are saints by any means at all! But I am just saying that’s it’s kind of funny that people will say, with their whole chest, that vindictive bullying is actually worse than terrorism and abusing your child, and the idea that the narrative could agree with this scares me

[golvio]

Really not thrilled with the general trend I’ve been seeing of people being like, “Ganondorf’s motive is that he’s Literally Just Demise! He’s a direct continuation of Demise’s existence, who remembers Hylia and all the events of Skyward Sword and is acting on that, and literally nothing else about his backstory matters! ☺️”

Like…no? Even if you’re a total newbie who’s only ever played TotK, he was pretty clearly a Gerudo who was reacting negatively to Rauru’s rule, even if the English translation didn’t really go into detail about why. And he hates Zelda because she’s Rauru’s sole surviving heir in the present and was the one person who actually posed a threat to his plans, considering Rauru’s general hubris and ineffectuality meant he could only serve as a stopgap (and even then, not a super effective one, given that the seal was already leaking 10,000 years ago) while Zelda could actually destroy Ganon after Link softened him up for her. By that point, Hylia’s been dead ingame for like a zillion years and is only remembered as a crunchy granola nature goddess instead of an artificer, and isn’t mentioned by any of the major characters including Ganondorf in flashbacks because Fujibayashi couldn’t stand the thought of accidentally having a woman in an important role that’s not “your mom/your girlfriend who smiles and waits for you on the sidelines” in Skyward Sword and now needs to make a self-sacrificing salaryman father figure who’s emotionally neglectful but trying his best even if His Ungrateful Kids Just Don’t Understand How Much He’s Sacrificed To Support Them (and also just happens to be absolute king of everything) the center of attention in every story he directs.

TotK Ganondorf may not mention much about his motives in the English version beyond “Hrrrgh! I hate the world and wanna destroy it because I came outta the womb all intrinsically mean and bad! I wanna stay up late and ride across the plains on my favorite horsie with all my monster friends all day long!” which is about the caliber of writing SkSw gave to Demise. However, he also never mentions Hylia. He never mentions having mysterious visions of any past life as Demise, or the voice of a dead dark god telling him what to do. Ganon’s motives are firmly grounded in the present, informed by the life he’s lived. Demise himself, at least in the English translation, never said that he himself would return, merely “an incarnation of his hatred,” presumably someone who’d step into the role of causing problems for Zelda and Link’s descendants. He never specified who, or that it would only be one person forever. Ganondorf just happened to be the most “successful” and longest lasting one because he just so happens to be exactly the kind of tenacious bastard who never lets go of a grudge who’s a natural fit for the cosmic “Professional No. 1 Hater” role.

Like, stop acting like who Ganondorf is and his motives don’t matter Because Demise. He’s pretty clearly not Demise or a mere extension of Demise, even if his Demon King form is superficially similar to Demise from a distance. (Not to mention even the superficial details of DK!Ganon’s design point to him being a human who turned into a demon like a kijo or oni as opposed to a “natural born” demon like Demise).

And, like…if you’re going to accept lazy writing while speculating about TotK’s plot or writing your own fic, at least accept what’s actually there instead of making your own even lazier assumptions. At least try to use your imagination and get curious when you’re speculating on what Ganondorf’s friggin’ problem was! Even Original Japanese Script!Demise got a teensy bit of depth with wanting to take over the world so his children could rule over the earth.

[lauranthalasah]

Things I've noticed on my rewatch of Ted Lasso 4/?

Ted's childhood sounds kind of weird to me, lonely? Neglected maybe? I don't know, but something seems wrong there. In episode 3 of season 1 he tells this story "... When I was a kid, my folks took me to the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower up there in Milwaukee. They ended up leaving me there all by myself. Yeah, three hours and 42 minutes.​..". He says "a kid!" and he was left alone for almost 4 hours? In a place that wasn't even his city?! Weird as fuck! ​I​n episode 1 of season 3 he tells this one "... I remember being left at school when I was Henry's age. I ended up helping our custodian, Mr. Maher, clean half the school until my dad remembered to come pick me up.​.." ​​. The second one is apparently just the dad that forgot about him, but the first one he says "my folks"​. So it was normal for his family to forget about him? But what about his mother? As little as Ted talks about his father, he talks even less about his mother. There's only one personal detail I can remember him saying about his mom " It's funny, 'cause whenever my mom​ ​has something tough to talk about with me,​ s​he'll, um... you know,​ ​she'll start it off saying something​ ​about, I don't know,​ ​something weird, something overtly nice. ​(s01e09)​​. ​​In episode 6 of season 2 he says " Boy, I love meeting people's moms. It's like reading an instruction manual as to why they're nuts.​"​​ which is an indicator all on its own, but it might be more revealing that after this line he asks Beard about his mom, but Beard doesn't ask back, and they both have this tendency of not talking about sore points in each other's life. Here comes the speculation part of this post: given what Ted says in s02e06 his mom might have that toxic positivity he used too. If that is the case I wonder if it's born off the same fear as Ted's issues grow from. In season 2, when his traumas catches up with him, he is terrified of ending up as his father, which I'm gonna be honest... it sounds like a fucking horrible way of living. Then you have the wife and mother, maybe terrified of losing his son just like she lost her husband, and maybe she tried this hyper happy and optimistic persona in a effort to pull her kid out of his dark cloud, because we know that Ted was angry right after his father's death, enough that he didn't went to his funeral, that bit about going in his pajamas to his graduation and ending up in jail sounds like he was acting out, like he was living his darkest moments, but at some point he covered it all, at some point he started doing the same as she did, and I wonder if that opened a chasm between them, like the one between Ted and Michelle. So I think Ted and his mom might, on the outside, seem perfectly happy, but deep down everything is rotten because they never got to talk about real issues, and therefore he kinda lost both of his parents, like one checked out physically and the other emotionally/mentally? Eh... I don't know, we'll see! I just noticed those moments and ticked me off.

[the-night-that-feeds-if]

HI!! How are you? I just played the demo and literally loved every second of it, the emotional neglect with MC's mom hit close to home BUT it was written very well :,)

I like that we get to pick hobbies as well! And I liked the angst that came with Aevans death (idk if I spelt that correctly). I have a close relationship with my older sister, my pal, my good time boy. And losing her would honestly haunt me too especially being around a mom who's very emotionally neglectful and responds to vulnerable emotions with an eye roll. To have that safe space taken away from you and being blamed for it would fuck me up too so you really nailed it there with your writing!

I'm foaming at the mouth for Maddock Kdbjfbdj

PET?? ON GOD??? Literally gnawing at the iron bars of my incloser. Playing Francesca by Hozier right the fuck now cuz that's how I be feelin. I have a type for broken men lol. Even my friend found themself barkin and meowin for the sexy Mercenary.

Hi anon! I'm doing good today, I was working on some coding for the story and FINALLY got through some tough bit of code that was stalling my progress bad all thanks to @albywritesfiction (SO HELPFUL OMG)

The story is very inspired by my own personal feelings and experiences with my mom and siblings (tho none have died but I've lost some of them in other ways.)

So it makes me happy but also very sad when people can personally relate to my story. Much love 💜

And I am so so flattered that you love my writing, I really appreciate the compliments especially about the emotional impact it has. The new update isn't going to overly mess with anything beyond maybe rewording some stuff and fixing the pacing and grammar etc.

And I'm so glad people love Maddock. He was the first RO I developed, and it probably shows lol, he's a very emotionally complex and innately sexual character, I was a little worried about how he might be received considering I don't often see IFs with ROs in the older realm. But I love him, and the potential (especially BDSM) relationship aspects you can have with him. I'm really trying to nail down a man that is emotional, and strong, and safe and definitely some amount of broken.

(you can probably tell I REALLY like broken men too 👀)

[stormoflina]

I saw a video of Dominik and his father when they announced that he was joining Liverpool. And Dominik was doing alright up until the journalists got his father involved in the conversation and also I saw a video from a couple years ago I think Dominik was still playing for Salzburg back then and again people gave the word to his father and the POINT IS his whole demanour changes, he takes glanses over his father, and starts taking more time to answer the question and I can only imagine what goes in his head in a moment like that. 'How should i respond? Is this good enough? Am I saying something I shouldn't? Does my father approve?' And it made me really sad, no one deserves this kind of treatment and I hope that it all wasn't as bad as we might think it was. But I cried after the news of Dominik calling his dad crying while in aNoThER cointry because he misses home and for him to hung up on him 😭😭 sorry for the rant lol

Girl, don't you apologise, we LOVE rants in this blog!

While I'm not sure if I have seen this video you are taking about, even just reading this made me feel so bad for him. :( Maybe with knowing what we know from his interviews we are naturally more observant to all of this, but it's quite telling if poor Domi's demeanour changes so drastically with his father present.

I know he doesn't blame him, but I do lol, I just can't like his father. It's one thing that he raised his son in a certain way, but to be actually proud of how you emotionally neglected your child is baffling. Yeah, this is about the phone call story.

That just sounds so extremely traumatising. I remember that once I attended a hiking camp in Transylvania when I was 15 (same age as Domi when that incident happened), and I tried to phone my mom whining about getting a blister on my toe (lol), but we lost connection, and both of my parents were ready to get into the car and drive hundreds of kms just to see if everything is right. I can't imagine your dad hearing you cry on the phone under such circumstances and hanging up on you. That's so cruel.

[electrosair]

hiiii! hope ur doing well ❤️I'm joining in on the matchup bandwagon as well yippeee

to give you a tiny bit of an idea about my personality, i'm an INFJ 9w1. I tend to be extremely shy, and closed off from people when it comes to talking about myself, as my main focus is on the people themselves and the world around me in general. I like to maintain peace and quiet and help the others around me - but also escape in other worlds through books, video games or fiction.

I'm very emotionally sensitive. I am also prone to overthinking and getting really anxious. It's easy to make me embarrassed too!

generally I don't bother people with my problems because I'd feel really selfish, but I am always willing to help those in need - hell people even come to me for advice, comfort or just to be heard. I kind of tend to neglect myself sometimes, when it comes to my physical energy or emotional well-being.

being social isn't very easy for me and I run out of energy quickly.

I have only a few friends. when I'm around them I tend to have a very positive and pleasant disposition! I actually tend to be a little louder than I normally am, and I've been told that it brings people at ease. also my optimism is seemingly infectious, or so I've been told. the thing is that I'm very optimistic around people, but negative with myself - I'm my own worst critic, I'm very harsh on myself.

I value honesty and I prefer for people to tell me things at face value. I can be blunt most of the time, but I usually read the emotional atmosphere and go easier with my words (sugarcoating most of the time), so I don't hurt the others around me (I tend to gently scold people sometimes). it's hard to make me angry, and also I forgive easily.

I am able to predict outcomes of situations most of the time, and it's helped me a lot (legit feel like I'm able to avoid any dangers fhsjfhd).

my favourite nation is Fontaine! lovely story, music, landscape and characters, and exploration is so fun. as for my favorite element, it has to be anemo!

during my free time I am usually reading about psychology stuff (I love understanding the human mind and people around me in general), playing video games, watching vtubers, watching documentaries (from nature to crime ones), or creating my own artwork, characters and generally just. creating things in my head and living in my own little world when things get too tough for me (its a good way for me to cope).

some fun facts as the cherry on top! I'm a very organized person. my entire room is SUPER organized, neat, super clean. some plushies, manga and books here and there.

I am good in academics, I'm hardworking, and I love animals. cats especially. I'm a sucker for cute things, and I kinda know how to cook. I don't have a lot of physical strength, I'm really weak.

I dedicate myself to those close to me a lot, at this point some people would call a sister figure or a "mom friend" lol.

🙏I hope this isn't a lot. if it is I'm super sorry I tend to ramble plenty;;; anyway make sure to take real good care of urself! sending love ~ ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡

you can ramble all you want in my requests 😭

Lyney!

After getting to know you a little better he would make sure to ask you every so often how you've been feeling since he knows that if he doesn't ask you, you won't tell him anything.

He loves when you to start to open up little by little with him, he would try everything so that you can become closer and gain trust with him. One of the things he does is to invite you to the new shows he does, always in the front row so he can surprise you more.

He might even ask you what you would like to see in magic tricks or if you know any, he also wants ideas and would be willing to listen to you and figure out afterwards how he can do it. Lyney would also tell you about some of his own, but always in a discreet way so as not to ruin the moment of the performance for you.

He's probably a person who really appreciates order to have everything go according to plan, so I think you would also be pretty compatible in terms of little personality things like that as well. And the fact that you like cats so much just makes it even better.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

how do you feel about tai because i feel like crwby try to write him to be a good dad but genuinely dont know how? i genuinely dont know what theyre going for with tai?

i love aus focussing on qrow and tai co-parenting the girls because fanfic writers are, as a whole, better than crwby at writing.

First off anon thank you for this ask I’ve been hyper focusing on Deltarune again and this ask gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about it again (it’ll make sense I promise lolZ)

Tai is a very complicated character and not in a good way unfortunately. CRWBY wanted to have their cake and eat it to in a manner of speaking with wanting Ruby and Yang to have a good and loving father while also having Yang be the one to care for Ruby for so long but couldn’t really be bothered to come up with a good story reason to balance both and not have the story feel muddied and hypocritical. This is the man who was so depressed and unfocused on his children that his two toddler children where able to just leave the house for hours and almost be killed by Grimm seemingly without him realizing forcing their Uncle to come to their rescue. But we’re also supposed to applaud him as a super loving and devoted father?

Tai is at first at least portrayed as having been very neglectful of his daughters after spiraling into depression after Summers death. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing and is a realistic response to trauma. The issues come in when the narrative also wants to paint him as a good and loving father Yang and Ruby adore and don’t have any hang ups about how absent he was from their childhood. To me at least from my own experiences….it doesn’t make a lot of sense. As a kid I always kind of resented my dad for being at work all the time and it wasn’t until very recently that I understood all the nuance of why he was at work and on business trips all the time, it’s something that as a kid I really couldn’t understand. Now maybe Yang is at a point where she can understand and is emotionally mature enough to look back on it all and understand but Ruby? She’s still a kid at the beginning of the show and is a little naive about these things which is not a bad thing! It’s realistic and makes sense given her age and how socially awkward she is.

A much better example of how this kind of parent is handled is in the Hunger Games books wherein Katniss calls out her mother for shutting down when her dad died and told her she can’t do that again if Katniss doesn’t come home. Katniss is allowed to be angry at and resent her mother for shutting down as she did and forcing Katniss to raise Primrose and, most importantly in my opinion, the narrative doesn’t treat Katniss as a bad person for having these feelings. The narrative understands that their mother abandoned them when they needed her most, forcing Katniss to do a lot to keep their family alive.

If CRWBY really wanted to have Tai absent so Yang was the one to basically raise Ruby while also allowing Tai to be a loving and devoted father, they could have done something similar to Noelle and Rudolph in Deltarune.

Within Deltarune Rudolph is Noelles father and is hospitalized due to his deteriorating health leaving her to be mostly cared for by her mother who is implied to be on some lovely emotionally abusive to Noelle. We don’t have anything directly confirming this but we have hints like how Noelle would rather stand outside her house unable to get in for hours and hours rather then admit to her mom she forgot her key or how Rudolph mentions it’s been hard for Noelle with him in the hospital because he balanced his wife out.

Now obviously CRWBY can tell the story they want to, but as they have it currently Tai is a confusing and inconsistent character with characterizations that just don’t really work. I think if they wanted to go with the loving and devoted father angle they needed to make some changes, either by changing why Tai was absent or remove that aspect entirely or allow the girls to be frustrated by his absence and have Tai realize his mistake and be working to repair his relationship with the girls.

The plot line can work technically but as of right now the writing just doesn’t work. Generally in fanfics I follow this arc about him becoming so depressed he abandoned his kids is cut and usually I see it replaced instead with Yang more filling in the mother figure role for Yang which allows her to have a hand in helping raise Yang while also allowing Tai to be a devoted father. I won’t tell anyone the best way to rewrite Tai obviously but for me at least something needs to change and as you said anon fanfic authors do so much of the work CRWBY refuses to do for some reason.

[kowalskiology101]

My MoFy ranking of 6 main adult characters' parents seen and unseen from loved to despised by me

I come and go from this site as I please. These are my personal opinions. The parents of the 6 main adults who were adults from the beginning.

1.Frank Dunphy- Always supportive and comes to things like seeing his granddaugther's boyfriend's band play in an under 21 club with his daughter in law's brother's gay partner. Always wants Phil to follow his own path and dream big. The biggest dreamer in the show.

2. Grace Dunphy- I feel like how she impacted the characters really says a lot about her. And she wanted someone to take care of Frank after she died even if that relationship didn't work out. And she's one of the few adult family members who seemed to understand and relate to Alex.

3. Jay Pritchett- Mostly high up based on his ability to change through the series. Later seasons didn't do season 5 finale Jay justice as much as it should. He still had issues with Joe's toenails being painted or Manny not being 'manly'. But he and Mitch did come to the middle a bit and I love his overall character arc.

4. Pilar Ramirez- Mainly because the next two are unseen and the rest aren't great. She's very protective of her daughter and she does care about family.

5. Fulgencio Ramirez- honestly we don't know much but from how Gloria describes him, he sounds pretty decent. He could be tied or switched with Jay's mom simply because we don't have enough info.

6. Jay's mom- She seems a bit stern as she didn't like Mitch cutting his spaghetti (depending on how old a kid is, I'd cut spaghetti so they don't choke) but definitely stuck up for Jay when he was being berated by a coach when he was a kid.

7. Merle Tucker- He did have an affair in 1977 but that was pre series and resolved off screen. He may have made a cake topper and visited willingly and given presents, he really was still uncomfortable up to the date of the wedding. We only saw him 3 episodes (2 if you count the wedding as one big episode) He couldn't even tell the two dudes that the 'father of the bride' doesn't exist because sons are gay. Granted, Jay didn't either, but Merle seems like a pretty uninvolved parent. Uninvolved to the point of letting Barb do what she wants and not paying attention to how his kids are being raised. We don't know much about Cam's other siblings, but Pam and Cam are a result of bad parenting (I know script says they do this and that and I know it's a sitcom and not that deep, but I'm a writer and this is my current fandom obsession. So it is that deep for the stories)

8. Dede Pritchett- I'll just echo something Mitch said in the crazy train episode and should've remembered "She's a scheming dragon woman hell-bent on destroying everyone around her" (I actually disliked Mitchell the most in Good Grief for dismissing how horrible Dede was to Claire)

9. Jay's dad- While Dede was a living presence, she really impacted one generation. Jay's dad impacted two. His son and grandson by emotional neglect. He's not mentioned that many times but when he is mentioned around Mitch, the redhead is silent (could just be script choice and me reading too much into it-shush, my opinion). Claire does mention him going on a racist rant about Pearl Harbor bc he saw sushi in a store in the seventies. I admit some fanon interpretations have impacted me, but I don't feel like it's a long shot to assume he was in some form mentally/emotionally abusive. There is a mentioned incident of Mitch not being able to stand salt and vinegar chips due to childhood trauma when he was seven and Cam knows since he was more concerned about Lily underperforming in a talent show at that moment and said 'can't relive this with you right now'. It could be a bully who made him eat the chips, I personally headcanon it being Mitch's grandfather forcing him after he tried one and spit it in the trash.

10. Barb Tucker- What could be worse than narcissistic, scheming dragon lady mother or man who spurred generational (at least emotional) trauma? My issues with Barb were initially just her continuous sexual assault of Mitchell (damn writers for just being ok with this) and being cheated on in the past doesn't absolve her of future crimes. What she did to Mitchell was bad enough, but I've been thinking of her impact on Cam and how not only did she baby him and treat him like the golden child, but years after Cam and Mitch were married, Barb seemingly 'still blames herself to this day' for Cam being gay because she once washed his mouth out with soap in the shape of (leaning tower of Pisa or Eiffel tower). So that got me thinking is she trying to scare Mitch away and somehow turn her son straight? Barb will always be the character I dislike most on this show. More than Pam because it's at least partially her fault Pam and Cam are so 'high and mighty' . Yes, even more than Gil Thorpe.

[shapeshiftingcloud]

Did you ever get more ideas for that Soundwave Dad AU you thought of? (I may or may not have basically scrolled through many many posts of ur blog)

I personally love the ideas you had for it and wondered if you ever gave it more thought.

{Sorry for not responding earlier my dude!}

{edit for grammar and spelling}

Fjdjrhfks thank you for the kind words! I love this au so much

As for new thoughts

Soundwave and Laserbeak hate the fact that Jack and June have joined up with the Autobots.

Laserbeak has missed his mom and baby brother greatly in the years since he’s last seen them.

Silas is Jack’s bio dad.

When Sounders and LB found out that he kidnapped June it practically took the whole crew of the Nemesis to stop them from going down there and wiping not just Silas but Arachnid from the planet.

However I’m thinking that he kidnapped them after for their “protection”.

Uncle Knockout and Breakdown, no I will not be further elaborating.

Possible Junecee in this, but there could also be Junesound (idk if they even have a ship name)

Jack has these subconscious things that both he and Soundwave share such as pacing, liking dark/low lighting, not really talking much ect(feel free to add on to this list! :p)

When the bots find out I’m thinking that either they will treat Jack differently seeing him as Soundwave’s son and or they get angry at June (namely Arcee and Fowler) for not telling them.

Jack does remember SW and LB and now doesn’t know how to feel about them

Soundwave used to go by the name of Sebastian Williams and Laserbeak was Luis (if you have better names let me know)

Jack is having an identity crisis

Soundwave and Laserbeak might become neutrals

[Tw for abuse and neglect]

Soundwave and Laserbeak have always despise Silas even before MECH

Silas would go out drinking with his army buddies even when June had work and just left Jack alone even when he was a baby

Silas would never hurt June and Jack physically (except for once but I’ll get into it later) but mess with June emotionally; think classic ‘you would be nothing without me’ nonsense

He met June when Laserbeak at a scouting mission heard Jack crying all alone in unlocked house, Soundwave made his way down to earth and was like ‘wtf are humans that bad at taking care of their young one, that they leave them all alone’. He found June’s phone number and texted her, she sped home and thanked them for telling her about Jack after everything was explained (with a cover story)

The one time he [tried] to attack June and Jack Soundwave kicked his ass and got him dishonorably discharged from the military

Annndddd yeah that all I have for now feel free to add your own head canons though and sorry again for how late this is!

[lafilleestmorte]

I was SO sure that ccir was going to join my kdrama favourites list but the last two episode were honestly such a fumble. I put it right next to extraordinary you because both shows really had the most nonsense endings possible, given the attention to detail and quality of writing in the episodes leading up.

I henceforth propose a list of things I would have liked to be different:

(spoilers under the cut)

1. WHY DID HAE-E'S BIOLOGICAL MOTHER COME BACK. I literally did not care about her, and we had already explored Hae-e's feelings about having been abandoned in the earlier episodes. This sideplot occupied so much of the last few episodes when that same time could have really been used to flesh out the development of the other side plots so it makes me frustrated. I did end up appreciating the mother's story but it was so last minute and took away from the other stories in a really big way

2. Sua's family. Their endings were so!!! underdeveloped I don't understand how they thought they could get away with that. I liked the scene where Sua tells her mom to get a divorce, because her mom starts to realise that she is mature and not some child to be protected and coddled. At the same time, we don't get to see Sua go to therapy and overcome her anxiety and actually mature emotionally. We don't see her mom face any consequences or revelation regarding all of the BULLSHIT she put so many people through. Including her husband, who she actually did neglect. I think Sua's father had an interesting potential in having been neglected and treated shittily by his wife and acting out in turn. He was quite a socially aware character from the start and I wish they made him out to be more complex than some rich dude throwing a hissy fit. I don't like that her mom got off scot-free and still boasts about Sua

3. Sun-jae's family. what in heck. I don't even understand what happened there. You can't expect anyone with braincells to accept that his mom just GAVE UP on pushing her sons' educations when that's literally been her personality for the entire show. Even if the court case made her realise her faults, it's not enough to warrant a complete 180 with no supporting development. I liked the idea of the parents connecting over the issue and becoming more supportive of each other, but that would only make sense if they spent!!! time!!! showing it to us!!! I would have liked for Sun-jae's mom to realise (like Sua's mom) that her son's actions were coming from a place of maturity and awareness, and for her to apologise. I think Hui-jae going to the military was a good choice, but the vacation was quite forced. I'd also have liked!!! for the mom to have a scene with Hae-e

4. NAM HAE-E (and friends). if the previous point with Sun-jae's mom making up with Hae-e and Sun-jae happened I might have appreciated them getting together a little more. But it feels like they were just shoved together because they didn't have time to give either of them a more fulfilling ending. Sun-jae is sO MUCH MORE than some idiot who is obsessed with Hae-e. Seeing his family issues be solved would have been more important (and satisfying) than seeing his love life solved. When it comes to Sua, I imagined her bursting into tears when Hae-e woke up (because she still doesn't know that it was Donghui that did it) and then trying to become friends with Hae-e. I really liked that it was Geonhu instead that reached out to her!!! He's the friendliest so it makes a lot of sense and I really like the sense of ease between the two of them. I don't know/care about the implied romance though. Finally this last bit. is a tad personal. but we were this || close to getting aroace!Hae-e who rejects everyone and does not date if they had left it at the dinner scene I would have been the happiest girl alive. maybe danji was my aroace queen all along

5. JI DONG HUI. genuinely what the hell. He was my FAVOURITE character for the first ten episodes, even after I started suspecting him of being the killer. My friends thought that it was a cop-out to have him commit suicide, but I disagree, because I genuinely cannot imagine him having to go against Chi-yeol so it was either that or him being dragged into prison screaming 'i did it to protect you!' while Chi-yeol watches in complete shock. But if they were going to go down the suicide route then WE NEED TO SEE CHI-YEOL GRIEVE. Dong-hui was genuinely a huge contribution in getting him this far in his career, and Chi-yeol must have really loved him. I mean, that was the only person he felt close to and had contact with for almost SIX YEARS. I was interested in seeing Chi-yeol process his grief and betrayal and regret in a more prolonged way, because they spent that long making the audience attached to and invested in Dong-hui's character. idk when I saw Hyowon driving the car something in me broke.

I have a singular positive, which is that this was the first show where I never got bored or annoyed with the leading romance. They were so cute and loveable until the end and I really enjoyed watching them

[medium-bloodcrafter-scion]

Hypothetical Astrology for Legendborn Characters: Moon Sign Edition

This post is for my fellow Legendborn Astronerd @multifairyus 💫⚔️ who provided really good possible Moon placements for Bree and Sel.

I promised I would get into it, and delay is not denial, I'm here to fulfill my promise!

Disclaimer(s):

- These are hypothetical and (if you pull up an ephemeris) may be impossible placements. If Tracy Deonn provides actual birth dates and times, I will revisit.

- Astrological interpretation varies from person to person and can be a bone of contention. I personally lean towards "traditional" astro, ie. only consider the 7 planets and not Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune. I just find it more symmetrical and easier for my brain to handle 🙃.

A quick primer:

The Moon represents: the Mother, women, the body, instinct, intuition, emotions, what you need to survive and thrive. It's one of the "big three" and can give a lot of insight into a person.

Ready? Let's go!

1. BREE - Aries Moon ♈ 🌕

This girl has fire in her eyes, veins, heart. I was actually surprised that she's a Scorpio, so assigning a fire Moon just seemed like the right thing to do.

* Instinctive reactions are quick, impulsive and fiery. Often leaps before she looks. Stuff happens/she does things before her brain steps in. She's quick-tempered but also quick to forgive. Her emotional vocabulary is most fluent when expressing anger/irritation.

* At best: Quick to react, emotionally transparent. She's a warrior, a weapon, a powerhouse.

* Mars (ruling Aries) can represent severance, among other things. The story starts with Bree literally being severed (Mars) from her mom (Moon) through her mom's death, which took place after a fight (also a very Mars theme).

* The theme of bodily (Moon) injury (Mars in Aries) is consistent throughout both books, with Bree literally being cut/burnt several times.

What Bree needs: to be in a space where she doesn't have to be hypervigilant. To be in a space where she isn't subconsciously anticipating that she'll have to defend herself from emotional or physical harm. To be in a space and be around people who make her feel safe.

2. SEL - Capricorn Moon ♑ 🌕

Capricorn Moon reminds me of Harlow's Monkey Mother Experiment 😭

* Saturn's baby. He's literally separated from his mother (Moon) to be raised by an institution (Saturn, ruling Capricorn, represents constructs, boundaries, institutions).

* Struggles with feelings of unworthiness/abandonment/neglect/self-loathing, so he's overly self-reliant, cold, and mean as a coping mechanism.

* Desperate for connection but doesn't know how to forge it (like wanting to be friends with Nick) because connection for the sake of it was not valued by the institution that "raised" him. Duty was valued instead.

* At best: Measured, calculating. Able to remove his emotions long enough to address the matter at hand. Realistic to an irritating, almost depressing degree, but it's often necessary.

What Sel needs: Reparenting (in therapy, or reparenting himself). He needs cuddles and head scratches and forehead kisses. He needs affection for its own sake. He needs someone to tell him they care, that they accept him as he is.

3. NICK - Scorpio Moon ♏ 🌕

*Nick is very complex. On the surface he seems like a "golden retriever," but when you dig deeper there's deeper, darker, more secretive layers, which is a very Scorpio Moon trait. He processes anger internally, but if not given room it can build up until he goes nuclear. He tends to alienate himself when he wants to process his feelings.

* At best, he's emotionally articulate, strategic, deadly at close range (much like a scorpion) and passionate.

* Scorpio is a fixed water sign, so Scorpio Moon really points to the making and breaking of emotional boundaries. For Nick, he experiences the violation of his physical and emotional boundaries early and continually - abusive training, invasive oaths, being forced into a role he never asked for. Another example is him feeling Sel's bloodlust whether he likes it or not (this is why that Max killing scene is so pivotal - it's Nick's own bloodlust, not a transmission from Sel). He's also forcibly separated from his mother in such a way that her emotional connection to Nick is broken... because he doesn't exist to her 😭.

What Nick needs: He needs space, quite simply (something he does express in the memory walk with Bree and Sel). He needs a safe emotional space to express/process his darker emotional urges without judgement. He needs room to rebuild those boundaries that were violated so early in his life.

COMPATIBILITY

Bree + Nick

A Scorpio Moon Nick would mean his Moon and Bree's Sun are in the same sign. Having the same Moon as Bree's Sun would explain the easygoing, comfortable call-response they have because Moon-Sun conjunctions in synastry can create instant feelings of connection. They would share a profound understanding of each other that forms a solid foundation for their relationship. Both having Mars-ruled Moons, they both instinctively understand the language of "fight," which is fitting for their positions as the descendants of Arthur and Lancelot.

Bree + Sel

Capricorn and Aries are square (at right angles) to each other. These two get under each other's skin, with Sel feeling like Bree imposes on him somehow and Bree feeling like Sel tries to block or restrict her from expressing her 'fight.' Would explain why they snipe at each other, but ALSO shows potential for some red hot sexual tension. On the bright side, Sel's Gemini Sun would grant him some sympathy towards Bree's 'need for speed' Aries Moon, while Bree's Scorpio Sun provides some much needed emotional expression for Sel's cold, dry Capricorn Moon.

Nick + Sel

Capricorn Moon and Scorpio Moon actually form a pleasant connection (sextile - easygoing, free-flowing). Let's assume a scenario where there's no more Oaths - Sel and Nick have the potential for a healthy emotional connection, provided Sel doesn't try to suffocate Nick's need to express his feelings and Nick understands that 'realism' is one of Sel's love languages. They would both need to let their guard down and give permission to the other to express themselves without fear of judgement.

I'll stop there because I could discuss this all day. 😊

[0wikipedia0]

BNHA 362: Bakugou Katsuki

If you say Bakugou is a bad person, I don’t like you.

Hear me out, or don’t, but if you legitimately think Bakugou is a bad person you’re ignorant and blind, and I think that tells me all I need to know about you.

I’m not saying you have to like him. If you don’t like Bakugou, I completely respect that. I have quite a few great characters that I just don’t like, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you get up, celebrate Bakugou’s “death” because he was “toxic” and “a bad person”. That tells me that you only see the world in black and white, are stubborn, and blind.

Like Bakugou or don’t. That completely up to you! But ignoring everything he’s gone through? Shoving aside his growth? Saying he’s a villain after everything we’ve seen? It’s just plain ignorance.

Bakugou is a character who has done bad things. As someone who has been bullied in my life, I can relate to how hard it had to have been for Midoriya. However, the ENTIRE story is about how people mess up, they do bad things, they grow and in truth aren’t this stereotypical “evil” that society makes them out to be.

Bakugou bullied Midoriya. That’s a fact. There is no erasing that. There is no excusing that. But Bakugou and Midoriya grew passed that stage. They grew, albeit in different ways, as people together. Bakugou suffers from extreme anger issues, gifted kid burn out, high unachievable expectations, an inferiority complex that presents itself as superiority, and a home life that while not abusive, has been emotionally neglectful. I doubt she meant any harm, but intentional or not Mitsuki did not address her own problems, therefore laying the ground work for her sons own lack of emotional maturity. These are problems that real people go through. I myself grew up with a mother who was emotionally and mentally abusive, however unlike Bakugou’s mom, she addressed her problems after seeing its affect on me and my siblings life, and got the help she needed. I love her very much, but I still suffer from the effects of that nearly everyday. And I have, while not on the same level, hurt people because of this.

The fact of the matter is, to call Bakugou a villain or an inherently bad person is not only ignoring everything he has gone through and done to better himself, but is also outright offensive to other real people who have messed up in the past and worked hard to become better.

You can hate Bakugou all you want. He’s not perfect. But NOBODY is. And to hold him to that impossible standard is what got him there in the first place. People make mistakes, you have made mistakes! That doesn’t make us bad people, it just makes us human. And Bakugou has made amends with his past, apologized to the victim of his mistakes, and is actively moving forward. This alone puts him above so many others in the world. He’s trying.

Let him have this.

[colorcodedbeanies]

S2 E4: "Down"

Listened to the Insider podcast for this episode while travelling. They are so excited about how they got that port-a-potty to work.

TW: Smoking, violence, ableism, homelessness

So we've now shifted from Walt attempting to share the blame about Tuco to just abdicating all responsibility in the matter. Something he insists over and over again in this episode when denying Jesse access to his money is "[why should] I suffer from your carelessness?!" Undoubtedly Walt needs the money. But he refuses to even acknowledge the fact that it was his over-ambitious strategy that got Jesse in this situation to begin with. When Jesse points this out, he instead pivots to personal attacks, asking him if he "smoked the entire 600", calling him a pathetic junkie, and asking him what he even contributes. He's unwilling to ascribe Jesse the degree of personhood to where he can acknowledge he's in equally tough circumstances, and he's also too proud to admit that he feels vulnerable without the money.

BREAKFAST ARC BEGINS. Like most boomer/gen xer dads, Walt's tactic to soothe his wife is to take on the barest degree of "women's work" and act like the novelty will make her forget why she's mad at him in the first place. (Fascinatingly this will also be something he does to Jesse after their wrestling match in the RV). There's something wildly grating about his attempts at conversation. It feels like he's trying to "bring himself down to their level". I love Anna Gunn's facial journey during his long rambly lie about cellphone alarms. The realization isn't just that he's lying, but that he's lying poorly and expecting it to work. He respects her so little that he thinks this half-cocked story will assuage her doubts, and in my opinion that's what ultimately drives her away. We see through their discussion later that Walt still primarily conceives of Skyler's anger as being emotionally centered. She feels neglected, worries that he's cheating, worries that he doesn't love her, and so he attempts to fix it by engaging emotionally. She's the little woman back home, and can't she see all of this is for her? Why on earth would she have questions about WHERE you are and WHEN (and there's such a poetry in her giving him a taste of his own medicine this episode).

That entitlement to Jesse's space reaches its ultimate conclusion with his parents kicking him out onto the street. We never see flashbacks to Ginny's last months, but I do think its notable that his mom doesn't really push back on Jesse's interpretation that she wasn't there for her when she was dying. Jesse's not wrong that he earned this house, even if not legally. More than that, punishment via homelessness isn't exactly an effective way to coax someone OFF of using, or even dealing. The Pinkmans ultimately aren't attempting to put Jesse on a better path, but washing their hands of him completely. So fed up with him they don't even want him on a property associated with their names. And while I don't necessarily fault them for making a decision to cut ties, through wielding the law as a tool between them they are contributing to the classification of Jesse as a Criminal by Class. More that that, it reinforces more than ever his dependency on Walt, as he has to go to him pleading for money just to acquire a spot to sleep at night.

The entire driving lesson is an exercise in Walt's ableism and also a specific expose on where it stems from: insecurity. Flynn's need for mobility aids, for alternative strategies to go about doing tasks, seems to brush right up against all of Walt's medical based triggers. He sincerely seems to expect Junior to bootstraps the cerebral palsy, telling him "there's the easy way and the right way" and more absurdly "your legs are fine, you just have to stick with it". Much like Jesse, Flynn is being set up to fail and then has to deal with the embarrassment and shame surrounding that. He has at least enough self-assurance to say I told you so, but its undoubtedly rough for a teenager to feel like his body is something his dad thinks he has to get over, rather than something to live with.

He's not the only family member with Jesse parallels this episode, as Skyler seeks comfort for her distress in a substance that she feels she has to hide. I'll dig more into this when Walt finds the carton, but for now I want to draw attention to the lady who glares at her. The presumption is irresponsible parent, not struggling parent. Junkie, not addict. Obviously this individual lady has no responsibility to check on the stranger she sees doing something potentially harmful to her future child. But that reaction of judgement before empathy is something that's going to echo hard with Walt, and I'd argue is a microcosm of social attitudes towards addiction as a whole.

After a frustrating argument with his wife, Walt meets his younger associate in an RV and immediately gets in his face to provoke him. Jesse and Walt wrestle, culminating in Jesse straddling him with his hands on his neck and Walt taunting him. He then rolls off him and Walt offers to make breakfast. This is a sex scene by proxy if nothing else.