#she got grounded after this

[hellboundhimbo]

DOMESTIC KUWAMESHI IN THEIR 40S RAHH 💥💥💥💥 ft Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen!! they only just got together so they’ve been making up for lost time,,, ignore kuwabara spontaneously having his sleeves rolled up in the last panel i didn’t realize it until it was too late

bonus: yusuke’s daughter miho being a professional hater/teenage dirtbag, just like her dad when he was younger

[20001541]

OKAY BASED OFF THE POLLS JANUARY 1ST WAS CHOSEN AS AFO'S (AND YOICHI'S) BIRTHDAY! CONGRATS ON THE BIRTHDAY KINGS🥳🎉🎂

credits to auramighters on twitter for the edit

[jacarandaaaas]

Why is twitter voting on the “disney princess of the year” and including mirabel💀 my girl is NOT a princess stop setting her up like this!

[burr-ell]

To expand on the previous post (with excellent addition by @kerosene-in-a-blender), I genuinely believe Laudna as a character would be a lot stronger in one of two scenarios:

1. Ditch the Whitestone stuff. I say this as someone who has produced almost nothing but de Rolo content—that is too big a part of Campaign 1 not to completely overshadow anything different the character tries to do in a long-form narrative. I think they could have threaded that needle, but that requires so much more focus and attention that a fast-paced story about a moon conspiracy just isn't built for. It's been 65 episodes and Whitestone nostalgia is all the character has meaningfully contributed to the narrative.

They put themselves between a rock and a hard place before the story even started. You can't bring in Delilah too often without inevitably treading on Campaign 1, but you also can't use her too little—not just because she's Delilah Briarwood, but also because that's the patron of a PC and your PCs need to be taking center stage. And yet there is nothing Delilah's presence has done in the story thus far that could not have been accomplished by a completely different, hitherto-unknown necromancer patron. Laudna's experiences in Whitestone could be replaced with a similarly traumatic backstory (it's not like Exandria is hurting for necromancers abusing power) and she'd have to actually elaborate on it and flesh out the worldbuilding and think about the backstory instead of being able to lean on "Hey, you guys remember that Briarwood arc? Freaky, right?"

2. Keep Laudna as she is and use her in an EXU miniseries. Set it in northwestern Tal'Dorei, where she's been wandering aimlessly for thirty years, spending half the time disassociating and half the time making her dolls. She meets a colorful group of people and they go on some adventures, and she finally decides to take back her life and do something about the voice in her head. You'd basically keep the Whitestone episodes of C3 as they are, give or take a few beats, as the climactic episodes of the series, and then the newly fire-forged friends set off for whatever new journey awaits them.

Maybe Laudna switches patrons; maybe she ditches the warlock thing entirely; maybe she ends the miniseries not knowing what she wants but excited to learn about it with her new companions. Mini-campaigns don't have to worry about that kind of thing! You can have your Whitestone nostalgia and some fanservice while still telling a pretty fun story, and it won't feel like a weird extra appendage to a main campaign that otherwise has very little to do with it. I wouldn't say it's a story I'd be interested in seeing continue, but it's perfectly serviceable for something small and self-contained.

What it has not been serviceable for is the long-form story of Campaign 3.

Honestly, I was a little concerned about all of this even before I started watching all the way through, but I wanted to give it time and judge it for myself. I don't believe in unfounded doomsaying, and I wanted to give the show a chance to do something interesting. And it has been 65 episodes, over 260 hours of content, which I think puts us well past the window of "give it a chance", and Laudna has spent the vast majority of her time not meaningfully engaging with her levels of warlock if it doesn't contribute to creepy girl vibes. (She frankly isn't engaging with her levels in sorcerer, either.) She's never even addressed potentially finding a new patron—so does she not want to? But then why is she so distressed about the idea of Delilah resurfacing? And if she does want a new patron, why has nothing actually happened in the almost-thirty episodes we've had since the Whitestone trip? If she's been "fighting Delilah for thirty-odd years", why didn't she take the chance to explicitly try to connect with, say, the Sun Tree? Or literally anyone else?

And honestly, as a Campaign 1 fan I have to say I'm also frustrated at how Delilah's presence specifically undercuts that story. Like, yeah, you have a technical reason for why she's still here, but "well she IS a powerful necromancer" is just a mechanical explanation, not a dramaturgical one. Her story is done. The chapter closed. She had ample opportunity, including when specifically asked by the Hells, to state any specific goals—any at all—and didn't. This is the woman who menaced Percy and Vex? This is the woman who permanently killed Vax? ...Really?

It could have been an interesting challenge to take on in referencing something from the past while bringing something new to the table, and it's not like they haven't done that before; they've already shown with Jester and the Traveler that it can be done. But they haven't done it here; any opportunity for Laudna to grow beyond her vague concepts—"What if Sun Tree Body...with Delilah patron? What if weird scary girl...but happy?"—has been generally ignored. Her killing Bor'dor is the first time in the entire campaign that she's done something that really got my attention, and in two episodes it's almost immediately papered over, followed by some inexplicable "must you continue to reconquer?" word salad about the gods.

Marisha explicitly refused to create a new character until she knew for sure whether or not Laudna would be resurrected. But if she enjoys her so much, when is she going to do anything meaningful with her?

[da-proti-toku-grem]

how do you know the difference between a huge anxiety attack and a panic attack?

[shhh-secret-time]

To be honest, stardew valley has me in such a chokehold. It always has, even before the 1.6.

In such a way that my brain wants to smash my hyperfixation into it. So late at night I'll be awake thinking of this stardew/south park mashup.

Call that bad boy Star Park AU.

But no brain! Bad! We already have too much going on! You have a Secret Soulmate AU. Fantasy AU, A Cowboy AU story staring Kenny that's still in the outline phase, and these one shots!

(Look at the tags to watch me descent into madness)

[omtai]

on train home from pvris it was dope!!!!!!!

[vroomian]

Ollie's an absolute heartthrob. Especially with the short hair. And super built, I am swooning! She popular in Hell?

oh there were a few moments in the beginning where she had to fend off Val's offers for a job. Unfortunately for him, Ollie is a homebody who stays in her workshop, and has her maid/assistant Thea do her outside errands.

(I'm thinking despite her appearance Ollie is actually a very gifted technomancer/artificer. She can fix or create just about anything with enough time. which is how Alastor and her meet at first!

someone's gotta fix his microphone after all!)

Ollie's actually very intimidating to most demons, just from her size and build. But yeah she is verrrry popular, especially with the ladies lol.

[camscendants]

That was an eventful two days

[gildedmuse]

So, I just know all of Tumblr was wondering, "hey, you remember that really weird ZoLaw fan with the annoyingly overly stylized post? I wonder if she's seen this and if she has any theories or thoughts, an observation or two?"

Well, allow me to set your wandering mind at ease, fictional Tumblr fan. The answer is: No. No, I really don't.

I have like three hundred.

[I also spent time just trying to track down as many translations as possible. Is Tera A Criminal's Daughter or The Daughter Of Thieving Bandits! These are CLEARLY separate things and can ENTIRELY change how her utter nonpresence in Zoro's life shaped him! Though I can take comfort in knowing that, regardless of what kind of crimes her father was committing they were more important than anything his daughter ever did in her entire life.]

And, hey, as might as well jump right into that whole mess.

1. Wait, Zoro's mom is dead? Thank goodness, I was worried Oda forgot one!

(AKA: Stop. Murdering. Moms.)

I'll go first, I don't mind saying when I was wrong. True, in the past I may have suggested that the vast majority of female characters in One Piece come off as ever so slightly, "leaning into sexist tropes with unadulterated joy; it's the misogynistic tropes equivalent of a child running naked through a grocery store. It's right there, everyone sees it, yet people shut up and continue shopping in part because, well, these days you just expect most people to cover that junk! What would you even say? And if you DO speak up and call out the inappropriate, be prepared for blank stares and tantrums; but THEY don't mind! THEY don't think it's wrong! You're just being mean!"

More or less a direct quote.

However, I see now that I rushed to judgement and the reality of the situation is far more nuanced. With that in mind, I was just wondering if someone could help answer some of the questions I have.

Like: Why does Oda believe that it's illegal for (maternal) female characters to survive other character's backstories?

More importantly, why hasn't someone just reached out to explain the misconception!? It can't be that difficult. If nothing else, just have a lawyer or judge or other expert in censorship on hand. Or is the one of those cases where back in highschool his friends made something up and then kept pretending it was real to see if he'd believe you and not only did he fall for it, it took over 20 years before he learned that, what, no that's not illegal. That would be crazy if it were an actual law. Cause you know, after the first 10 years I think yeah you have to just lean into it. Pretend it's a creative decision on your part and definitely not because you were terrified of being sentenced to a slow and humiliating public death.

Just to be clear that's definitely what's up, right? I mean, I'm struggling to think of another reason....able excuse why a story that I really enjoy keeps playing the same old sexist tropes cards again and again to the point of absurdity. It would just help if I had a valid excus- explanation. I almost mistyped the word explanation.

....

....

So I imagine it went like.

"That's the third mangaka they've had to Publically Execute this week!"

"They've started taking this law way more serious lately."

"This one really deserved it though! I heard his main character has a mother in her late forties!"

"That does seem old to have your first child."

"No, he's the middle of three and 22 years old. The story even has flashbacks of defining moments in his childhood and never once did she try to sacrifice herself for him, get murdered by his enemies, or die in meaningless unrelated accidents."

"Damn, that's cold to be there for all the protagonist core moments and not die and help him develop and grow a character? They must have a very antagonistic relationship. Is she actually the villain."

"Not that we know, and when they asked about this being a possible plot twist since - obviously if she's evil no laws are being broken."

"Well, of course, that's the whole reason Statue 2-dash-57 exists; if creators can show they have consistently been building up to a surprise twist then the female character in question can continue to live so long as she continues to be unrepentant and unlikable until the resolution of her arch by the protagonist."

"That's the thing! Under oath not only did man present no evidence to support her identity as a secret villain, he went on the record stating he wanted to depict their relationship as one of a normal modern 20 year old and his mother."

"That can't be true! What publishing company would even print that!?"

"It gets worse. I told you he was a middle child? Well, according to those who've read the actual manga, his younger sister was really sick as a child."

"Oh, well, at least-"

"It was just a fish allergy. She's perfectly fine."

"Sometimes I feel this law is unnecessarily harsh but.... Then you hear stories like that, and you realize that some people really are monsters."

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: March 22

"Too Sweet" by Hozier

[see-arcane]

I might have pitied this deformed woman

With all due respect ACD why is everyone calling someone with a limp deformed... Also to be honest I would have felt more horror from the story if Gilroy found her attractive and/or charming and enjoyed her company and work relationship but also did not love her for whatever (non-physical) reason, because then there could have been a potential inner conflict and guilt, instead of ''this is out of my hands she is icky-looking and a crone (Gilroy you are 35) so I have no self-doubts about being in love involved on top of it all yay''. Having him vehemently dislike her all the time minus during hypnosis removes those layers.

It isn't 'everyone' in the story who calls her deformed, though. It's just Gilroy. No one else is mentioned deriding her for her disability or her looks or anything else beyond Penelosa's talent.

Considering ACD's comparatively progressive track record with the Sherlock Holmes stories--a series notable for how often it takes the side of oppressed parties, including abused or preyed-upon women--I can't see Gilroy's ageist and ableist views as anything but an intentional setup for the narrative payoff of his disgust as well as his anger and fear.

The story does feel slightly karmic at the start and, to give ACD the benefit of the doubt, I agree with you that having Penelosa not be an attractive hypno-dominatrix likely played a part in Gilroy's initial revulsion at her controlling him into playing paramour. I think this was intentional for the character's buildup, but also for the audience's. Even in the present day, there's no ignoring that there are demographics out there who are Highly Interested in the erotic implications of hypnosis. BDSM for the brain, puppet master kinks, et cetera.

If Miss Penelosa had been hot, or even just pretty, I wouldn't have been surprised if the horror story ACD was trying to put together would lose much of its punch in his era's audience. Sure, it's still icky that Gilroy's a man being Controlled By a Woman (!!!), but having her be attractive would 'soften' it for them. Still, all this is only in play if ACD was really truly adamant about selling the horror of 'A Stranger Now Owns My Free Will and Is Planning to Violate My Life in Intimate Ways.'

It could also have just been intended as an eerie scientific*** what-if adventure applied to a then-popular (and wildly overestimated) practice of the time. Or maybe he meant it as a straight-up supernatural escapade in the vein of vampiric mesmerism from a psychic monster. I don't know, I can't ask him.

All of that said, the horror is soured a bit by Gilroy being a haughty skeptic snob who had some comeuppance heading his way in the first place. Similar setups are common in horror flicks today, where we get to cheer at least once in a movie when the Big Villain takes down a more commonplace bad guy. There's no scare there, just vindication.

And me being me, that's not enough. Because I am all about two things.

One, adding more horror to everything, always, forever.

Two, making life harder for Jonathan Harker.

Jonathan 'Holiest Love means I Will Walk Backwards into Hell to Protect/Stay with My Wife Whether She's Mortal or a Literal Monster' Harker is not about to shit on anyone for a bad leg or some crow's feet.

More importantly, we've already seen his reaction to sexy sexy undead ladies trying to hypnotize him into compliance so they can take certain bloody/eternally conscripting liberties with him.

To judge by the 1000+ Dracula adaptations that show the directors' fetishes in full view, Jonathan being preyed on by the hot vampire Brides is seen by many people as...you know. Hot. Enough to rewrite and bastardize his character every time to make him seem like he was genuinely tempted by them.

But He Was Not.

He was being hypnotized into artificial attraction and paralysis so the ladies could take their turns with him without his fighting back or trying to run. Which he does later! More than once! Every time this voluptuous trio tries to hypnotize or corner him again, Jonathan catches on and sprints in the other direction. He is not into that shit no matter how pretty you are, ladies.

Specifically because, as I and Bramothy Stoker cannot stress enough, Jonathan Harker is strictly Minasexual. All Mina all the time. 24/7 Mina lockdown 365 days of the year. Mina, Mina, Mina. Mina? Mina. (I personally headcanon him as demisexual with shades of biromanticism and ace, but that's beside the point.)

The point is, even if Penelosa was a knockout, Jonathan wouldn't notice. He wouldn't care. Just as his love would not have been stopped by Mina turning into an actual monster; he would rather be damned and in love than slay her and be holy. You can bet your ass if Mina suddenly had a handicap he'd still be enraptured with her to the point of blasphemy. You know he's going to still be heart-eyed as they grow older. Jonathan Harker is made of unconditional and extremely focused love. It is all-encompassing and yet it belongs to a single person. It's the kind of love we all wish we had for ourselves.

It's the kind of love that someone like Penelosa--who latched onto a random handsome prick of a professor after she had known him LESS THAN AN HOUR and started plotting to groom him into her personal Ken doll--would do anything to have for herself; Jonathan Harker, the true Prince Charming, the gallant beloved, the guileless charmer who holds the One He Loves above himself, above God and Devil and the world itself...being wasted on some pretty young thing who hardly needs such a treasure.

It isn't fair. Mrs. Harker will never appreciate dear Jonathan like other, more deserving women would. Not like her. She would show him. Help him through the motions until he learned better; learned to love in the right direction.

Her direction.

Only if given the opportunity, of course.

(👁)

In short, yeah, Gilroy was not the best option for a sympathetic horror story protagonist who we could feel real fear and empathy for. We only really get a glimpse of that toward the end, when Penelosa escalates enough to start injuring innocents and tries to make Gilroy throw acid in his fiancée's face. A big scary leap, but also too late in the game for a proper punch. Especially with the abrupt copout of the ending. Bleh.

I think we can do better than that. Say, with a protagonist who can balance on the pro-and-con line of keeping the supernatural puppet master of their life happy enough to not act rashly, who knows the value of dancing on eggshells in a tight spot, who could tug the heartstrings of villain and audience just enough to let fuller and far more frightening machinations come to light as time goes by.

Especially with certain other powers lurking in the shadows, which might make a trifle like death a far less permanent end to their ~romance~ than it ought to be.

Don't you agree, Mr. Harker? ❤

P.S. Gilroy's still absolutely getting his ass handed to him in this take, don't you worry. He's been demoted from crush to chew toy to minion. RIP sir, but you're not off the hook just because Jonathan's distracting her with his dreaminess. Get to work.

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

You just know O'ravi drags Aymeric out to Doma after Ultima Thule, lol

[hoperays-song]

Analysis: Suki and Jerry’s Actual Jobs

What are Suki and Jerry’s actual jobs in Crystal Entertainment? This has been on my mind since I first watched Sing 2, mainly due to the jobs they appear to have don’t line up with what we’re told they actually are. These are my thoughts on their actual company roles with explanations, I hope you enjoy! 

Ps. I know there’s more evidence in this theory for Suki than Jerry but in my defense, we rarely actually see Jerry working and not just following Jimmy so...

- <3 Gooseless

Suki: The Chief Communications Officer (CCO)

Ok, so while we’re introduced to Suki as a talent scout, she actually doesn’t really act like one. In fact, a true talent scout would likely not have been as recognizable to avoid biased treatment. Nor would they have left before the full show is concluded as to be able to give an accurate review. She acts more like a company higher up, being recognizable and known in the industry, and seems to be in a position where she might go to shows after actual scouts have previewed them if they were going conflicting results, but she does not behave like an actual talent scout (again the leaving during the show).

Instead, she is constantly with both Jimmy and Jerry. She is constantly on her phone, on a tablet, talking to someone, she never stops working. She was in the room when Porsha’s firing was been discussed. And if she was a low level employee (like a talent scout), she definitely wouldn’t have been in that room. Jimmy considered that an embarrassment, he would limit the people who saw the direct response of said event. In fact, the only people in the room were Suki, Jerry (aka Jimmy’s right hand man), The Crystals, and the personal bodyguards who I can almost guarantee signed NDAs. 

She also was important enough for Jimmy and Jerry to get her before going to the theatre. Why would you get a random talent scout to go to handle the people currently putting on a show behind your back? You wouldn’t, because that wouldn’t be necessary. A talent scout would not be helpful in that situation at all. The only logical conclusion I could come up with was that she isn’t a talent scout.  

But do you know who would be privy to all the public and private workings of the company, who would be privy to all the information of the events going on? Especially since it’s their job? A chief communications officer. They run the publicity of the company, the contracts with other groups, and even the talent scout division (in rare cases). And Suki seems to handle this kinda stuff even within the movie. She is constantly typing what could be things like drafting news briefings or public statements about the show, which as it is high risk for the company, would likely be made by her. She is also there in every single big media moment of the company and seems to already know what’s going on (ie. didn’t react like Jimmy did in the news report scene, she already knew what was going on).

Also, just based on Jimmy’s personality, I don’t think he’d let a regular PR Officer/Talent Scout into any of those events either, so the only people in that room are heavily trusted by him. So, Suki being the CCO and technically on equal company footing as Jerry makes much more sense than her being a talent scout. Plus, her constantly acting as a line of communication between the company and the show is a job that occasionally falls on CCOs in high risk cases so, it makes sense she would be doing that as well.

Jerry: The Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Now Jerry… Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. He’s not a personal assistant. Unless this company has the world’s worst internal management structure in history, he cannot be a personal assistant. Because that would mean the one person, Jimmy, is running everything. Now as the CEO, he would be in charge in a broad sense and almost definitely has a few personal assistants, but that being Jerry doesn’t make sense in a corporate sense. 

In fact, we see him work doing the movie a few times and, while his desk is situated like a secretary’s, we don’t actually see him treated as one by other employees. Jimmy does, but Jimmy treats everyone that way so it doesn’t count.

Instead we see the hotel calling Jerry directly when something goes wrong. They didn’t call Jimmy, or Suki, or any other staff member, they called Jerry. Now, that’s a role that falls onto chief operating officer, aka the person who is in charge of the day to day of the company. He would be working closely with the chief communications officer and the CEO because his work directly overlaps with theirs. 

The CEO would be relying on him to handle the tiny details (like things happening with the hotel or media interactions on site) while the CCO would be relying on him to help with the presenting of the company and its work. And once again, I don’t think Jimmy would trust a secretary or personal assistant that much. But with a COO, if he goes down, so do they. It would be safer involving them in his plans. Also, the way other employees seem to differ to him wouldn’t being doing so if he was working exclusively with Jimmy (like a secretary or personal assistant), he has to have a larger company role.

[awkward-but-nice]

"bo-katan has no right to talk, she was in dea-" yeah, i can't imagine why a former member of death watch, a group that represents her worst actions, her worst regrets, and a part of her life that she wishes she could take back, would have any hard feelings towards a group called "children of the watch" 🤔🤔🤔

[multeasers]

Man who is consistently in looney tunes ass situations : how am I in a looney tunes ass situation