#so we're told everything about her instead of shown anything

[busghost]

Hi! Happy new year! Can you please help me understand what happened with the main trio now becoming different herrschers?

I was gonna wait until all three were reached on Global, but I'll just do the two we've got now and then reblog for Kiana.

Bronya is an interesting one because if we go off of what the CN name is, she's not a different Herrscher. She's unlocked the true potential of the Herrscher of Reason (more on the localization later). How? Essentially, the past Herrschers of Reason have been caught up in legacy holding onto the past. Welt Joyce and the 300,000 souls he saved in Berlin were the power Welt Yang and Bronya relied upon. But in order to reach the future she wants, she needs more, so she relies on herself and her own hopes and dreams and friends instead of the legacy passed down and she overcomes all previous Herrschers of Reason. It doesn't mean she's forgetting the past but she's moving past it unlike what the Herrscher of Reason has been able to do before.

Essentially, instead of having the past define her as the Herrscher of Reason, she is going to fight for what she believes in as Herrscher of Reason.

In Mandarin, her battlesuit isn't necessarily called Herrscher of Truth but could be True Herrscher of Reason. Marisa has a yt short about it I'll link here

Mei's new Herrscher powers are basically out of nowhere just because the story needs to happen and you can tell the writers were making these decisions instead of the characters.

After confronting and killing her stigma personality (again), Mei escapes the Project Stigma dream (again) and Ai Hyperion Λ hands her a portal to the powers of Origin.

She has a "test of character" which is basically, Question: "are you going to do the most protagonist-y thing?" And Mei says yes.

And then she goes "Wow I love everyone just like Elysia did! I wanna see Elysia again!"

The rest of the time is entirely focused on Elysia instead of Mei so it doesn't matter, she got the powers once she passed that "test" the new outfit was just a bonus. Not that we even know what powers the authority of Origin actually has.

If you can't tell, I hate how they handled this. It's the polar opposite of Bronya defining herself with HoTr or Mei's convictions with HoT. She's just Elysia Mei loves everyone because the writers say she does. Where did that character development happen? It didn't because she has been constantly shoved aside for Elysia.

I'll come back when we see how Kiana gets the authority of Finality to explain that.

[mswritingthings]

Big Prompt List

Instead of randomly putting out a few little lists here and there, I'll try to do a big one every 6 months or so. Yes, I did reuse a lot of my older prompts on this one, but the next one will be newer ones.

"It's always nights like this that I feel the loneliest."

"I can't be 'just friends' anymore!"

"This sort of thing was never meant to happen."

"Why don't you love me?"

"I have tried so hard for so long, and I'm just exhausted."

"There has got to be more to marriage than what we have."

"Please, just come back to me. I miss you."

"Don't cry, I hate it when you cry."

"I can't believe you'd do this to me."

"You were supposed to love and cherish me."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Just come back, we can fix this."

"I feel lost without you."

"This isn't about you anymore. It's my turn."

"What do you want from me?"

"There it is. There's that smile I love so much."

"I've never been happier with anybody else."

"You've shown me what it's like to be loved."

"Let's go do something, just the two of us."

"It's hard not to love you, I know that now."

"Love me or leave me here."

"If you call me baby, I'll always be yours."

"I want to taste her lips cause they taste like you."

"You looked at me like I was someone else."

"You're drunk, go home."

"I never thought I'd fall for you as hard as I did."

"I'll be anything you want. You love me more than you love yourself."

"Relax, there's no reason for you to be so wound up."

"I'd be willing to lose everything to make them happy."

"You're like an angel, my angel."

"We're in love, and I am actually happy for once."

"Please don't ruin this for us."

"We aren't together anymore, but that doesn't mean I stopped loving you."

"Why is it so hard for you to accept that you're loveable?"

"I like the way your eyes crinkle when you smile, it's cute."

"Everything always works out in the end because it's you."

"Wow, you look absolutely breathtaking."

"I don't have to keep changing because they love me for me."

"Come on now, let's have some fun."

"You're going to be the death of me."

"Talk dirty to me."

"You're ridiculous."

"Charming, you know just how to make a girl blush."

"What kind of trouble are you going to get me into?"

"If you're gonna cuff me, you might as well throw the gag in too."

"Oh my god, what is wrong with you?"

"A little flirting never hurt anybody."

"Just get over here and kiss me."

"God, you are so fucking hot sometimes."

"Do you believe in love?"

"I'm going to fight for what I want to be."

"Do you really love me underneath it all?"

"There's not much left of me."

"I want to drag you down with me."

"I love myself, I want you to love me."

"Do you think of me when you're with her?"

"You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down."

"Don't you remember how you told me you loved me baby?"

"I was supposed to be a doctor before all this started."

"Death wasn't supposed to feel like a mercy."

"The stars look different down here."

"Believe me, I didn't want it to come to this."

"Don't go, it's not safe out there for you."

"Your job isn't to make sure I make it out alive, not anymore."

"I don't want to live forever."

"Where do you go when you feel like there's nowhere to run?"

"And everything you ever said now tears me all apart."

"I've seen the things you put me through and I wish I could die."

"I love it so much it just turns to hate."

"When they get what they want, they never want it again."

"You want it all, but you can't have it."

"After all the lies you told, who will save your soul?"

"Life is perfect, never better."

"Fuck you."

"Isn't it much more fun fucking than fighting?"

I know I said to get laid, but I didn't mean them."

"I hope this lasts forever."

"Don't go, I need you."

"It's ben a long time."

"Sit and drink with me."

"The pain always subsides eventually."

"I got used to this."

"Tell me it'll be okay."

"I can't say sorry anymore."

"Please come back to bed."

"It wasn't worth losing you."

"There's too much at stake for me to let you be so selfish."

"Sometimes I wish that I never met you."

"You're insufferable, but I love you."

"It's a nasty business, that's what they don't tell you about loving someone."

"I have lost everything, but I keep going because I have to."

"There's a whole world of poeple out there who will love you."

"I know I'm now who you wanted to spend the night with, but I am here."

"I give up, being loved isn't worth all this humiliation."

"If you look away from me again, I swear I'll stop."

"You can have me any way you want, just ask nicely."

"You've taken good care of me, now let me take care of you."

"You have got to stop distracting me so much while I'm trying to work."

"Hey, all I'm looking for tonight is a good time."

"There's not a lot a good kiss can't solve."

[atlasdoe]

no bcs i think dumbles was a trash headmaster and i would've had him stepping down from the headmaster position OR solely focusing in that bcs i feel like he was biting more than he could chew (then again the british educational system has always sucked and nobody gave a fuck about kids so can i? entirely blame him? not truly), BUT blame him for everything???? EVERYTHING???? people are sick. or too young. and need to read more.

yeah i realllg don't understand how people truly believe that Dumbledore is the root to all evil. I swear people are more mad at him for certain characters deaths more then they are at fucking Voldemort.

The thing with Dumbledore is that he's morally grey. He's not the perfect mentor that we're led to believe he is but that doesn't make him a full blown villain. He is not responsible for every bad thing that's happened in the series

and it's SO ANNOYING cause it's taking away everything that made these characters interesting. Like acting as if everyone in the Order was manipulated into joining takes away so much from them.

And as for the Death Eaters don't even get me started. Evan and Barty in particular died because of their own actions. They committed crimes, they were supposed to be arrested but they resisted and instead were killed. Dumbledore has literally no hand in that because he's not apart of the justice system and has never shown any signs of wanting to be

And as for the people who died during the Battle of Hogwarts blaming Dumbledore is just plain dumb. Dumbledore was literally already dead at this point and speaking of Remus and Tonks as if they were fully adults doing their job (as part of the Order and in Tonks case literally her job. It's her fucking job to fight bad wizards. It's what she gets paid for. She's a fucking auror) with the kids it's more McGonagalls fault if anything for letting the kids fight in the battle to begin with. But the fandom love McGonagall so they'd never admit it. Either way Dumbledore was already six feet under and played literally no part in the battle or had a say in who fought it (HE WAS LITERALLY DEAD)

Also while we're here let's talking about everyone else

James and Lily Dumbledore literally put in hiding to protect them "but he took the invisibility cloak" no. James gave him the cloak. We don't know why but considering James and Lily were in hiding and their lives were in the hands of their best friend Peter it's not hard to imagine that they deemed themselves safe enough to hand Dumbledore a cloak that wouldn't have fitted all three of them anyway

Cedric Diggory died because of three people and their names are Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jr and Voldemort. Maybe at best i'll give you that Dumbeldore wasn't looking into the odd things happening at Hogwarts (like Harry being chosen) enough but then you'll have to be prepared to blame every other teacher as well

Marlene, Dorcas, Pandora, Alice, Frank, and practically every other marauders era character had very little cannon information about their death but none of their deaths mention anything to do with Dumbledore. How tf is Dumbledore to blame for Pandora experimenting with spells???

Regulus is the same with Barty and Evan. That man went into the cave by himself because of something Kreacher told him about Voldemort. IF DUMBLEDORE KNEW THAT REGULUS WENT INTO THET CAVE AND KNEW ABOUT THE LOCKET THEN WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE TAKE THE LITERAL CHOSEN ONE WHO HAS TO BE KILLED BY VOLDEMORT INTO A DEATH CAVE TO GET A PHONY LOCKET??????????

As i've said I don't even like Dumbledore like that but this fandom is killing me with all of this frankly stupid nonsense and it's killing my braincells

[nysus-temple]

Dionysus' lesser-known myths [or perhaps you do know them, but i will tell you about them anyway]

Some of these myths have already been shown in my blog, but i decided to bring some of them up again in a more elaborated way, plus some new too. Perhaps you've heard of them, perhaps you haven't, but i can tell you i haven't seen them much around here.

And my job isn't reading your minds, it's about writting essays, so here we go.

1. Ampelos (Αμπελος):

According to Nonnus of Panopolis, Ampelos was a satyr (tho not many art represents him as such) who loved Dionysus, and was loved by him as well. Not much of a surprise, since we do know many gods had male lovers.

The problem is that, we're still talking about a satyr, we know how those guys are and act. According to Nonnus, Ampelos was riding a bull while mocking Selene, angrily, she sent a gadfly to sting the bull. The bull ran and threw Ampelos all over the place. Nonnus describes it as a very gore-like death.

Dionysus, upset, ended up turning Ampelos' corpse into a grape vine, and from there, he created wine with his blood... THANKFULY, it was the blood.

Roman mosaic with Ampelos and Bacchus.

2. Midas (Μίδας):

"But Nysus, everybody knows Midas" yes yes, but do you KNOW the actual Greek myths? Or do you know the later, VERY later-on version that appears in Wikipedia? Midas never turned his daughter into gold in the folklore, for example.

Midas was a foreign king who married a greek woman, he was the king of Phrygia, and according to Pausanias, he had a daughter named Zoe. I have absolutely nothing about her except this.

Anyways, going to the important part: Silenus, a companion of Dionysus who used to be one of his foster fathers, got lost while he was... Kind of drunk ( come on, Dionysus can't keep an eye on everyone 24/7 ). Some peasants found him and took him to King Midas, who, as a very loyal follower of Dionysus, recognized Silenus and took care of him. When Dionysus arrived in order to take him back, he thanked Midas and said he would give him in return anything that he wished for... And here it comes: Midas wished to be able to turn everything that he touched to gold, and Dionysus agreed, even though he felt sorry he hadn't thought of it twice.

Midas was happy turning stuff into gold, obviously. But when he touched food and it turned into gold as well and he was unable to eat, he returned to Dionysus asking him to turn it back to normal.

Surprisingly, Dionysus didn't say "no" or "live with the consequences"; he told him to wash himself in the river Pactolus, and, good enough, the gold thingy dissappeared.

I don't have this myth fully narrated by a Greek, instead, from a latin author. The good thing tho, thanks to Herodotus and Pausanias, i know it's realiable.

Monument dedicated to Midas, in the old Prhygia ( now part of Turkey )

3. The Minyades (Μινυάδες):

According to Plutarch, king Minyas had three daughters ( whose names i honestly don't know, they appear in Ovid's Metamorphosis ). He tells that Dionysus appeared in the form of a maiden to invite them to the Dionysian Mysteries, since the rest of the women had already gone there. And they declined, politely, but still declined. This is one of those moments in which we see Dionysus' weak points, no justified anger. They neglected the cult, but had nothing against it anyways.

Still, for him, that wasn't enough.

He drove them mad, like very. Something that for Plutarch was even worse than death, apparently. They even killed their own children and ate them (yikes) dismembering them like Dionysus was once dismembered. The sisters were wandering around the mountains, without Dionysus caring at all.

Until finally, Hermes took pity on them, and turned them into bats, freeing them from the madness.

One of the Minyades showing the dismembered body of her son - Étienne-Barthélémy Garnier

4. Zeus' lighting bolts

This one is short, so i'll get to the point.

We all know what Nonnus' was up to when writing about Dionysus. He said in his work that Zeus recognized him (when being Zagreus) as his heir. Since when he was still a little kid, he was able to climb to his throne and to hold Zeus' lightning bolts. Of course, then the very well-known myth of Hera calling the titants to dismember Dionysus arrives here, since she wanted no heir to the throne.

Things happen, you know.

5. Lykurgos (Λυκοῦργος):

Remember when i talked about this guy in the anger essay? Wellp, here he is again, it's the same, but i'll elaborate on him a bit more.

He was a thracian king, and when he heard that Dionysus was going to Thracia, he ordered to trap all of his female followers in a prison.

Yes, only the women. I guess no men followed Dionysus in Thracia during his reign, not like i can ask him about it.

OF COURSE Pentheus 2.0 would imprison the FOLLOWERS of the god of MADNESS. Of course...

Dionysus got angry ( what a surprise ) and sent a drought towards Thracia + making Lykurgos go mad. It's not Dionysus if he doesn't punish you by making you go mad.

He then proceed to tell the people that the only way to stop that punishment was by killing Lykurgos, and, well, they did. They all killed him, and were freed from the punishment.

Dionysus then stopped the drought, he kept his word, indeed.

Lykurgos attacking his own wife after being induced into madness

6. The punishment of the titans

You think they got away? No, the fuck, of course they didn't.

After Zeus' found out what had happened to Dionysus (Zagreus), he imprisoned them in Tartatus, which caused Gaia to be all sad again, since many of her children had already been imprisoned there. What she did was, as scary as Gaia has always been, burning down everything she could.

The only way Zeus could take pity on her in order to stop that, was by sending a flood.

7. Coresus (Κόρησος):

Callirhoe was a Calydonian woman who scorned Coresus, a priest of Dionysus, who threatened to afflict all the women of Calydon with insanity as the good Dionysus priest he was.

The way to stop this was with a sacrifice, to kill the woman who scorned him. Coresus was ordered to sacrifice her, but he killed himself instead since apparently, he was in love with her and couldn't do it.

Callirhoe was overcome with remorse, and cut her throat at a spring that later received her name.

As always.

Coresus sacrificing himself to save Callirhoe - Jean-Honoré Fragonard

8. The Frogs (Βάτραχοι):

At this point, this isn't lesser-known anymore, and i'm not the biggest fan of Aristophanes' work (i love Euripides way too much, oops) but i'll still summarize what Dionysus has to do with this play.

Dionysus, as the god of theatre he is, wanted to bring back to life one of the great tragedy authors. And he descends to Hades for that, it's a way to mock his connection with it, this is still a comedy.

And after a poetry slam, Aeschylus is chosen in preference to Euripides. Smh, fucking Aristophanes, way to put your preferences.

9. Orpheus' death:

I'm not gonna elaborate on this one THAT much, since i wanna save it for the Apollo & Dionysus essay i have unfinished, which was the second most voted one and it might take more time to finish it.

In any case, do you know all these modern retellings in which they paint Dionysus as the "chill, calm, who only wants to party" dude? And Apollo as the "feral, envious, angry" dude? Well, ya'll are wrong...

Dionysus killed Orpheus due to his jealousy of Apollo's worship. I'm leaving you with this sentence, wait for the other essay to know why Dionysus and Apollo are so complex in terms of feelings. Or, at least, i will try to elaborate on it.

Apollo welcoming Dionysus to the sanctuary of Delphi, which they shared.

10. Dionysus IS physically incapable of getting drunk, live with it:

SHOCK i know. So if i see any of ya'll saying he's drunk 24/7, you better have your testament written.

NONNUS OF PANOPOLIS. DIONYSIACA. LITERAL TEXT: "Only to Dionysus gave Rhea the amethyst that saves the drinker from the chains of madness."

Yes, obviously going for scientifict facts, this doesn't work. It was believed in this world that the amethyst would prevent people from getting drunk. But this is mythology, Dionysus is a god, he can't get drunk even if he wanted to. And it's not like he should, he needs to keep an eye on his followers 24/7. Or do we want to remember what happened to Silenus?

Dude, how the hell do i have to tell you all, that in all text in which people were drinking for honoring Dionysus, they always stopped saying "he wouldn't like to see us this way" HE DOESN'T WANT YA'LL DO GET DRUNK. THAT'S NOT HOW HIS MADNESS WORKED

No. The women in the Bacchae are not ✨girlboss slaaaaay✨ they were feral women. The madness Dionysus used to punish Pentheus and the Theban women is NOT something you should idealize. Euripides didn't want ya'll to call him an icon because "omg the Bacchae is so progresive" GUYS... NO. IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT. It's about showing Dionysus' wrath. Of showing why like with any other god, he's feared.

The Greek gods are not your free playground OC's. You can't invent their sexualities or gender identities just for yourself. They're important figures of a culture and country that still lives. If you want an icon to feel identify with, create one. But don't go around there saying Dionysus is genderfluid JUST because you like seeing him young. No.

I know, personally, genderfluid people, and all of them agree THIS is wrong. I already had the whole pronouns drama with Dionysus, don't start over again with this. Please.

* AHEM * In any case... Hope you enjoyed !

I needed to work A LOT for this essay, since most of these myths weren't listed with sources. Whenever you wanna write a guide about folkore or anything similar, please, list your sources ! i don't want anyone else to go through the pain of needing to research though the catacombs of information JUST to confirm one sentence. Because i went trhough that, there's a reason why i've been researching about Dionysus for more than three years already and i still don't have everything. Thanks for your support and essay requests as always, it makes me INCREDIBLY happy to see so many of you willing to learn about a figure that has been so underappreciated and reduced into nothing like Dionysus, and who is still being misinterpreted to this day.

As always, reblogs would be very appreciated, it's the way people can find my blog for something else than copypaste incorrect quotes, and i always appreciate that kind of support. Of course i do this "por amor al arte" as i would say in Spanish, but still takes time and effort and i'm just a university student. I still will need A LOT of time to be able to work into something more accesible to everyone for the Greek folklore.

For now, this small Tumblr pieces is what i can give. But as always, thank you and χαίρε Διόνυσον 🍇

[phoenix-and-found-family]

Because brain said do it:

Personality swap AU

Agent Phoenix joined the agency specifically to make a name for themselves. They are arrogant about their skill sets, bragging about their accomplishments to whoever will listen. Their handler has had to tell them to shut up on more than one occasion.

Their pride is the thing they care the most about, and absolutely despises being corrected.

Despite all this, they are the best agent they have, so no one can exactly tell them their pride is incorrect.

John Juniper is known for being a nice man. Despite being the villain in many performances (and absolutely killing it) John has shown his willingness to help others clearly. A lot of people regard him as the world's greatest actor. Despite this, he hasn't gotten a big head, and people who have met him have said how friendly he is (including au Reggie).

Secretly, John hates himself. (Which might be true in cannon lmao) He thinks his whole career is built on bad lies, and if he makes a mistake everything could come crashing down. Which led him to the worst mistake he's ever made in his life: getting manipulated by Zoraxis into a plot to take over the world.

He's not an idiot, mind you. He doesn't want to do this, but he can't find a way out of it that doesn't leave him broke, disgraced, and on the streets.

more under the cut

Reginald Crane probably shouldn't be a handler. He's not temperamental or anything. (Okay, maybe he's a little temperamental. But can you blame him? His agent is a bitch.) His mind is clearly designed for invention, assisting the head of R&D, Roxana Prism, with various projects when not working. He can go on rants about mechanical engineering, for which his agent has told him to shut up several times.

While it seems to outsiders that Crane likes Prism, under a mask of friendship lies resentment. She clearly isn't suited for the position she's in, one which he'd absolutely love. She had practically stolen his idea with the TK implants, and definitely stole his idea for the robots, which she used for helpers around places instead of what they really should be used for- field operatives.

Selling out to Zoraxis wasn't a thing he had ever planned on doing, but he was furious at her.

Roxana Prism also probably shouldn't have been in R&D. She was social and kind. A lot of people said she gave off a motherly vibe. She has trouble thinking up ideas on her own, but once she got started she could hyperfocus her way through it, with only a few mistakes along the way.

It was a good thing she had a friend like Reginald. He could generate hundreds of ideas, and details about how they would work. She wished she could get him in the R&D, but he was already the lead support agent. She figured he wouldn't want to work here.

(I've also got Fabby and Solaris swapped but I don't know how I would describe that)

Patch notes:

Reggie and Phoenix probably have a "I'll tolerate you because we're coworkers, but if we met in real life I would punch you" relationship instead of the normal found family one, because of the personality differences.

John is definitely much nicer to his staff, which means that Gibson probably wouldn't be willing to sell him out to Phoenix in Party Crashers.

Reginald still really likes John Juniper movies, he's just less fanboy-e.

I was thinking what would make Prism(Reggie) join Zoraxis, but nothing came to mind. Then I realized that Reggie(Prism) had a perfect reason to join Zoraxis, and it makes an even better betrayal in my opinion.

I'll probably write something about this, I'm definitely writing the kidnapping scene with this in mind

Anybody have any questions, please send an ask 👍

[epickiya722]

Somehow, i think it's even more realistic and relatable that Katsuki didn't have some generic sad backstory to excuse his actions. Because not every bully or jerk has a bad and sad life, sometimes people are just assholes. And they grow up, move on. Become better people. (Esp since he was like, 14. C'mon yall)

And i think people that watch/read media like this need to exorcise themselves of thinking "sad backstory" is the only way for a character to be able to develop, or even thinking that because of this they now don't need it.

Yep!! Like not every character who acts the way Bakugou do (or worse) has some tragic backstory. There are other factors that can contribute to how someone acts. Yes, including, real life.

Like Bakugou was 14 at the start of the story. That is a whole child, folks. Bakugou, to me, is the case of a child being influenced by outside forces. No one was actually stopping him from mistreating Midoriya. In fact, others even joined it. Even adults, as I mentioned in another post, were doing it. Hell, Bakugou didn't start acting like an ass to Midoriya until it came out Midoriya was quirkless and the adults were making comments and whatnot about it.

On top of that, Mitsuki even states how her son acted the way he did because people praised the hell out of him.

It's like that in real life. There are people who tend to act high and mighty about themselves because they grew up practically being told they are.

Sometimes, it's not even that. It really can be just anything. Person could grow up having a normal life and still be an ass.

I think characters have that capability to change without the whole sad backstory shtick. Who says they can't be someone observing someone else's journey and going "You know what, time for some changes"? Or how about just sitting there one day in their thoughts, thinking over everything they've done and going "You know, I've been a shitty person"?

I notice that sometimes for characters whose backstory isn't really shown like that in canon, fans with make up the most angst-filled backstory for them. Neglectful or dead parents, been on the streets, sad backstory.

Not saying it's bad to explore those topics. I don't hate these topics.

It just bothers me how, over the years in both fanon and canon, glorified it's become. It's a trope that is used a lot in fiction and sometimes not executed properly. Some people just write it and it's messy.

It's like "character needs a backstory? how about no parents then?" Is there no other option?

Sorry for bringing Miruko into this, but using her as an example, whenever I write Miruko a backstory or bring up her parents, I don't go for the sad backstory gist. Instead, I like to think she does have a good relationship with her parents. They're just a little overbearing sometimes and she just happen to like to fight and get into trouble doing so. (They're actually in my "There's Miruko, There's Rumi" fic and I'm down to answer questions, but we're not here for that right now!)

[tvfangirladdict]

So everyone else seems to be bolstered in their Buddie hope after this episode, but am I the only one that's getting a sinking feeling instead?

On one hand, yes, the repressed catholic guilt for Eddie makes me optimistic--and was I understanding Maddie's hint about Eddie correctly or was I crazy?--but everything else read to me as ABC beginning to--maybe not solidfy Buck and Eddie as only friends, but at least pump the breaks on Buddie.

I get letting them grow and learn more about themselves in separate relationships first, but Eddie's genuine, physical attraction to Marisol? Going back to the beginning of their relationship so ABC can undo how Fox just kind of through them together like usual right before the season finale and they can actually show the development of this relationship that's existed for months now but we weren't able to see? Paralleling this with Buck and Tommy who want to get to know each other better? Buck and Eddie's shorter, more bro-style interactions vs the softer more intimate interactions we were used to seeing in Buck's kitchen? The hug and "call Tommy," was all just so quick and platonic😭.

I'm not saying they'll never go there, I'm just saying I'm not so confident that if it does happen, we'll see it confirmed in the next few years.

Anyone else know the story of Benson and Stabler on SVU? They were always partners/ best friends/ride-or-dies/more-than-friends/soulmates, but Stabler was Catholic, married and had up to 5 kids. Everyone and their mother knew those two were meant to be, but their timing just never worked out. In their first 12 years before Chris(Stabler) left the show though, they hugged like a total of 3 times, never once said "I love you" or ever crossed the line physically. Okay? You with me? And yet, there was so much chemistry and love shown between them, that they were undeniable.

Cut forward 10 years, and Stabler gets his own spinoff and is brought back into Benson's life. 22 YEARS in the making. In his first season back, his wife was killed, he told her "I love you" and this giant, unspoken thing between them was actually fucking acknowledged by their characters in the show. In one season, they advanced these twos' personal relationship more than the previous 22 years put together.

But then.... nothing happened. I mean small things here and there between the two shows, an almost kiss, them admitting they want each other. But still, three years later and they still aren't together. And now we're at 25 years, for what has to be the slowest slow burn in the history of like, everything.

All this to say, I'm really afraid that ABC and Tim Minear are only coming out swinging so hard in an effort to hook existing fans and gain their loyalty. But then, it's going to go back to doing what any other major television company does, and it's going to fall back into drawing it out as long as possible. Because yeah, the show is on season 7, but if ABC wants it to go another 7 for themselves, they can't just rush and give us what we want in the first one or two seasons, that wouldn't be a good financial strategy for them. I really don't think they'll do it that way.

ABC gave us bi Buck and they can't ever take that away, but will they trap us with that bait, and be content with making everyone halfway happy to avoid taking too many more risks so soon or ever? Yeah, I really think they're not above that.

I feel like we're already falling back into the patented responses from cast and crew that "you never know" or "anything can happen" or "nothing is set in stone", so that's not making me feel great.

Don't get me wrong, I would be so happy to admit I'm wrong if it doesn't go the way I think it will, but I don't think I can live episode-to-episode for another 7 years living off scraps of Buddie interactions and subtext😭😭 I'd rather they just go the "brother" route so I can get closure and focus on fanfiction instead. The will they/won't they and overanalyslzing every single second looking for a hint of something sexual or romantic between them will be the death of me, because at the end of the day, it'll mean whatever ABC will want it to mean😭

Most of yall probably won't even read this, but I had to get my anxiety out, lmao😅

[aita-irl]

WIBTA for distancing myself from a friend?

First off, some basic info: I am a senior, and the person I am talking about is a junior. I will refer to her as "June" for anonymity's sake. The title is vague as there are a lot of contributing factors towards this. I befriended June last school year because we shared a class period together and had common interests. I didn't have any problems with her back then, as she was very chill and liked to show off cute fanart or memes she found. She respected my boundaries as well, so I felt pretty safe around her.

Jump to a few weeks ago, we're back in school, sharing our first two periods. She seems to have forgotten about my boundaries, so I reminded her of them. It makes sense, because of our lack of interaction over the summer. My boundaries are really simple things like not talking about some sensitive topics, pushing for me to talk about my own issues, or venting without me saying I'm okay with it. According to June, all of her friends dumped her for saying a racial slur she can't reclaim. I don't really know her friends, so all I have is her word. That instantly made me want to stop being friends with her. Knowing her history, and the fact she said I'm her last friend, I feel she may take some risky actions if I distanced myself, so I didn't say anything to her.

Fast forward a bit, and I've had to remind her of my very simple boundaries multiple times, daily, as of writing this. It doesn't really feel like June is forgetting them, but ignoring them completely. I've told her not to prod at my issues multiple times throughout one class period, and she immediately asked very personal questions right after I said it. I've told her that I'm not in the mood to be vented to, and she vents once I finish saying it. Instead of simply showing me cute fanart she finds, everything she has shown me is borderline NSFW content, and it's been making me very uncomfortable. This morning, I asked her to stop (mainly with the sensitive imagery and the unsolicited venting) so I could finish an assignment. She went right back to doing so. She said she thinks me telling her to be quiet is her fault—i just wanted to focus on my work. I almost told June that I don't want to be friends anymore right after that, but I feel like that would be too harsh.

I'm planning on telling her eventually, but I really feel guilty about doing it. She says I'm her last friend, so I don't want to leave her friendless, but all of her recent actions have completely destroyed my feelings of safety around her. I genuinely feel like telling June that would make me the asshole, no matter how kindly I put it.

TL;DR A friend of mine used to be very respectful, then said a slur, lost her friends, and is now frequently breaking my boundaries even after being reminded of them.

[rdng1230]

More Ted Lasso Musings

Before I start let me say once again that this season has contained absolutely wonderful moments and is still a wonderful bit of light in a buuuuunch of darkness. Also spoiler warning.

Cool, so I've figured out what's bothering me this season and its that they're either showing us everything and telling us nothing, or showing us nothing (of actual character significance) and telling us everything. in the showing us everything and telling us nothing category we've got my love Keeley Jones. I feel like we've spent a massive amount of time at KJPR and I still feel like I'm scratching my head as to what they were trying to tell us. They've set Keeley up to be this incredibly competent and bright person, and when they give her her shot it all goes to shit. and I get it "you can't always get what you want" so says the song for this season's trailer, but I'm struggling to understand the thing that she got that she needed that she didn't already have. She had Rebeccas love and support, I mean she has Roy back but this does not seem like the show where the moral of a long story about her starting her own business is that she has her boyfriend back. I actually would love people's take on what you think we're supposed to get out of Keeley's storyline.

Onto the telling but not showing category we got my guy Nate the Great. He has been so totally short changed this season on his redemption arc. It is HARD to become a better person. It is HARD to admit you fucked up. It is HARD to turn against your own knee jerk insecurities and reactions. It is ESPECIALLY HARD to do that in an environment that is actively incentivizing you to act on those insecurities and reactions. So even though I absolutely believe Nate deserving and capable of these huge leaps forward in overcoming his own internal crap, I think we've completely sidelined that narrative of what's pushing him to actually take those huge leaps forward. At the end of season 2, it was clear Nate was really struggling, and I'm not gonna lie I hated the way he treated those around him, like Beard said it was "personal, and weird" but I also felt a huge amount of sympathy and compassion because no one gets that way without something horrible happening to them first. So when the last scene of season 2 happened and he was teased as this big time villain, I was sad, but not surprised. I expected him to get his redemption, but I also expected that to be a really difficult journey for him where he was likely going to get worse before he got better. So now we're in season 3 and he suddenly just makes all these huge leaps forward, they feel from out of nowhere, not because I don't feel like he's capable of it, but rather that should've been more difficult to do, and also it should've been a moment of great personal triumph for Nate! The way I think of it is imagine if Rebecca had just waltzed into teds office in season 1 and confessed about the sabotage with no context. Sure we would've believed her capable of it, sure we would've believed she deserved forgiveness, but we all would've been scratching our heads as to what made her have this reckoning within herself. they would've told us Rebecca changed instead of shown why and how she changed like what they're doing with Nate.

I actually think there's so many parallels between the relationship of Nate and Jade and the relationship of Roy and Jamie. Both Nate and Roy made stupidly bad and self destructive decisions around the end of last season. Both are in a low point in their emotional journeys, almost all of Nathan's emotional scenes have been with Jade while all of Roy's emotional scenes have been with Jamie. The thing is, that's not where their respective internal work really needs to get done? Nate already took the plunge and asked out Jade last season, and Roy already showed real vulnerability when he hugged Jamie after the thing with his dad (not that I think that means everything wrapped up with a shiny bow or anything, but just that each character has much bigger fish to fry in terms of character growth) I do think Nate and Jade have become really cute just as Roy and Jamie's scenes have felt ripped straight out of a fluffy fanfic. but do these scenes actually show us that Nate/Roy are getting better? We've already seen Nate being an absolute sweetheart with the women in his life who he loves, his mother, his niece (even if we didn't actually see her till this season it was clear that they had a very warm and positive relationship) and Keeley, so him being able to be vulnerable and open up with Jade is lovely, but not really that new of a territory. If we could just see Nate having a shift maybe with his coaching staff or the West Ham players, this would feel more meaningful because we saw him struggle way more with people he perceives as part of his own hierarchy structure. Its the same with Roy. We've seen Roy open up to Jamie in the past so their relationship, while fucking adorable, is not doing anything to address the real struggle inside Roy that he's ignoring. It would be way more meaningful to see Roy have moments where he chooses to have joy instead of running away. Instead we get scenes like where the sports pundit squad just says oh by the way Nate left West Ham, in the same way that Ms. Bowen says to Roy that he seems less stuck. Umm what? Since when? what happened? All tell and no show. Or showing only the least character growth relevant scenes and then just be like oh by the way they fixed it.

reblog and comment away because I'm interested in people's take on this.

[hellobitchlet]

Man, I'm honestly super glad that Kachina actually got to be lost in the Night Kingdom, but I don't feel like the writers.. took that seriously at all. The reveal that she died and wasn't able to be brought back happened in the beginning of the 2nd act instead of the end of the 1st, as if it was just a normal conflict starter and not a playable character just technically got lost in the ABYSS. Nope! Had to save the end of act 1 for some npc. And we can't actually see her die either, we have to be told about it and watch as not even Overreactor Paimon gives a shit.

Then, it ended with a stupid PowEr oF fRiEndsHiP oVercOmeS tHe BAd GuY We'Re noT eVeN ListEniNg tO ending 20 minutes later. And she, her new friend, and her newly gained trauma was immediately pushed aside (with the rest of her trauma that was already pushed aside for a stereotypical gaining confidence arc) in favor of propping up Mualani as being extremely important out of nowhere, and making someone who hasn't shown up yet the Geo Chosen One.

Like... did you not realize that this is more important to the story than anything else you've done in the main archon quests? Did you not realize that this was the second time you made a 'child trapped in the abyss' type story? Did you not mean to make her parallel Childe? Were you too busy ignoring the fact that she's a traumatized child to realize that you did that?

My girl deserved better than this :( you could have been everything :( I'm so sorry :(

[softpine]

do you think it would be a stretch to say joel is aroace? he never mourns sarah's mother or his relationship with her, tess always wanted something more he just couldn't have that type of relationship with her, all that time between part 1 and 2 he didn't have a relationship (as far as we know). idk what do you think?

honestly i think that interpretation of joel makes sense!! i doubt they would put that in the show, but unless they change something about part 2, there would be nothing that contradicts that headcanon. the only thing he EVER says about his ex-wife is this:

and judging by the fact that there are no pictures of her in his house, sarah never talks about her, etc. it's pretty clear that they got divorced rather than his wife dying while they were still married. she probably wasn't even in sarah's life anymore. if she was, i would've expected her to say something about her mom while they're fleeing the city. (something like "What about Mom? Where is she?" // "You'll see her again.")

the thing about tess wanting more from joel than joel was willing to give is something that i think only exists in the TV show. in the game, it seems to me that she's the one setting the pace, not just with their relationship but also with their smuggling and everything else they do. when tess dies in the game, she doesn't say "I never asked you for anything, not to feel the way I feel, [...]" instead, she says "There's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me." which doesn't imply any kind of resentment about the nature of their relationship, it just shows that they were in an undefined type of situation. but even then, there's plenty of wiggle room there for you to headcanon whatever you want about their relationship (the HBO version is basically just craig's headcanon fjksjds)

okay but here's where we're going DEEP into the lore. so, in 2014 the last of us did this one night event where the voice/mocap actors performed some pivotal moments on stage for a live audience. there's a secret scene that was not allowed to be recorded, because it later became the prologue of part two (where joel tells the clock joke and sings for ellie) and they didn't want to spoil anything. but in that scene, joel says that tommy set him up with a woman named esther, and that tommy wants them to "get hitched". it's unclear what tone joel uses when he says this, but i'm assuming he says it jokingly, like "yeah whatever tommy i'm not getting married again". he also says that esther is funny and she's the one who told him the clock joke. now here's where it gets crazy. ALLEGEDLY (i can't find any direct quotes), part two would've shown ellie and joel entering esther's house and finding out that she had recently been bitten. joel would ask ellie to step outside, and then you would hear joel shooting her. why? who knows. i'm glad they cut that lmao. but even after they cut all of esther's scenes, they planned on putting a love letter from esther to joel somewhere inside his house, but they cut that too.

all this is to say that joel never had a love interest. it's always interested me that they wrote one for him and then cut it. because even when he's established in jackson, living in his own big nice home, surrounded by people he could potentially trust, he still never seeks romance or even sex (they could've easily snuck in a joke or reference to a FWB or one night stand situation). it's interesting!

so to answer your question: no i don't think aroace joel is a stretch at all!! i definitely don't think he would have the knowledge or self-awareness (tbh) to call it that, but i actually really like the idea of it :)

[theoneprecioustome]

Aikoto Moments Masterlist: P3P (Makoto Route)

Now that I've finally played P3P for myself, I figured I should replace the old Masterlist with an updated one!

As usual, lots of images and SPOILERS for the entire game below the cut!

Since we already have a P3FES Masterlist, I'll only be focusing on the stuff that's different between FES & P3P.

I won’t include Aigis’s S-Link, since it’s optional and I want to focus only on the non-avoidable Aikoto moments.

I organized everything chronologically.

Most important ones are in Bold.

Additions

✤ The game makes a big deal about Aigis hugging him, it won't stop mentioning it. She hugs him for way longer here than she does in FES, where she stops hugging when Ikutsuki shows up.

✤ For the summer festival, Makoto can actually go with Aigis and Mitsuru. He also gets to hold hands with Aigis. Most importantly, this is the default route: the one that happens when you have either rejected every other invitation or have received none. In fact, it’s the only one the player CAN’T reject.

✤ When Aigis visits his room, she sits on his bed rather than on the floor.

✤ During the Ikutsuki betrayal, Aigis says “Makoto-san…” as she fights to regain control of herself.

✤ They make it even more obvious that Aigis wanted to be assigned to the same room as Makoto during the Kyoto School Trip.

✤ Nyx Fight: Aigis' calling out to him is the last thing Makoto hears before he falls unconscious.

✤ Aigis is the one to notice Makoto coming back after sealing Nyx. We also get a sprite of Aigis crying.

✤ Rooftop scene: This short description was added before Makoto ultimately closes his eyes.

Omissions

Since P3P has no cut-scenes or character models, a lot of things are missing Aikoto-wise. Much of Aikoto comes from Makoto reacting to Aigis and interacting with her outside of player input, which is sadly missing in P3P because Makoto either becomes a dot moving through the map or simply isn't visible on-screen lol

✤ Since we can't see the models, we don't see any implication that Makoto is attracted to Aigis at first sight just like Junpei and Akihiko. There is no heart, no disappointment at not being able to approach her first, etc.

✤ In FES, Junpei and Akihiko are disappointed that Aigis is a robot and Makoto isn’t. In P3P there is no contrast because the only one shown to be disappointed is Junpei.

✤ During the Ikutsuki betrayal in P3P, we get a description saying that Aigis looks at Makoto. However, there is no mention of the fact that Makoto is looking back at her and that it's this silent exchange that snaps her out of it.

✤ During the 11/30 scene we lose Makoto hanging back looking at Aigis as everyone else leaves. In P3P, the description just says "Your friends have gone back to their rooms".

✤ 11/2 Scene: He takes her hand on his own too and we do get a description for it (one of the only times Makoto is allowed to do anything on his own in P3P). However, we're missing the bit where he reaches out to touch her head.

✤ During Koromaru's last walk, Makoto is with Aigis and Koromaru but P3P doesn't say this. So, we miss the part where "making the most of this moment" for him involves hanging out with Aigis.

✤ Since there are no cutscenes, we don't get to see Aigis looking at Makoto and trying to draw the strength to stand after doing so. We can't see her reaction to Makoto levitating towards Nyx either, all we get is her "Don't go!"

✤ While Aigis is the one to notice Makoto coming back in P3P, we aren't told that Makoto gets emotional when he sees Aigis cry.

✤ In the rooftop scene, everything that comes from Makoto is pretty much gone. We aren't told that he wipes her tears away and that Aigis holds his hand in hers, etc. Instead of laying on Aigis' lap, he is laying on the bench with Aigis sitting by his side — in the English translation, at least.

The Japanese is more ambiguous (>枕元には、寄り添うように アイギスが座っている…) and while it does say that Aigis is sitting near Makoto's head, it also uses vocabulary that means 'cuddling close together'. So, in the Japanese version at least, the Rooftop scene is likely meant to be the same as it is in FES.

✤ The final cutscene didn't make it to P3P, either, so we're missing Makoto's gorgeous smile and Aigis being depicted without her mechanical parts.

✤ In P3 and FES, the ending credits open with Makoto and close with Aigis. In P3P, the ending credits just follow the order in which everyone joins SEES... Somehow, they still managed to have Aigis show up during the first "I'll never leave you."

Extra

✤ When you become lovers with one of the SEES girls and go to Tartarus with them, they have have special dialogues. Here is Aigis:

“When I’m with you, Makoto-san, I feel… like I’m in pain. I don’t know how to describe it well, but it’s like my heart is full… This must be what it feels to have your heart pound.”

✤ In the NG+, the game allows the player to choose who they want by their side in the rooftop scene. In Japanese, this person is the player's 'precious person' (same words Aigis uses to describe Makoto). This, coupled with the fact that two out of the three possible options (Yukari and Fuuka) pretty much quote Aigis' lines to Makoto, says a lot about how meaningful it is that Aigis is the True Endings' default choice.

✤ To add to this, in Kotone's (FeMC's) route the player is given the option to remain friends with the social links. The only exception is Aigis, who automatically locks onto the romance route. It is safe to assume that if they had gone back to modify Makoto's social links, the same thing would have occurred there.

P3P Remaster

✤ It’s worth noting that the lines missing in translation are, sadly, still missing in translation.

[therebelcaptain]

(hello this is in response to a reblog of a previous post of mine and it was a bit long so i'm giving it its own post... but you kind of have to read the previous post to understand the context lol sorry)

luthen is cassian's connection to the rebellion, not bix or the others on ferrix, and going to him wasn't cassian giving up, but rather him taking a gamble in order to join and fight the empire for real.

first of all, bix and co don't have any confirmed affiliation with the rebels beyond a rather tenuous connection with luthen. yes, they are rebels in a sense, but i doubt that cassian actually sees them as being a part of the rebellion. especially not in the same way that luthen is. if anything, he was sending them away to safety, so he could go to luthen—and by extension the rebellion—knowing that they were okay. he'd already lost maarva because (in his eyes) he hadn't taken her with him when he last left ferrix and he wasn't about to leave that to chance with the last of his family. cassian knew that with the empire actively looking for him, bix and the others wouldn't be safe with him anyway and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if they died because of him.

"i’d rather die trying to take them down than die giving them what they want."

this is what cassian says to kino in "one way out".

it goes without saying that cassian is not the same man he was before narkina 5 when he arrives back on ferrix. gone is the man who wanted to win and walk away, who was more interested in survival than fighting the empire. cassian knows that he can no longer stand by and do nothing. there's no other option for him going forward but to fight. i mean, he even starts listening to nemik's manifesto—something he didn't even want after everything that happened on aldhani—after retrieving it from the hotel on niamos. it's clear that he's bought into the idea of rebellion and is very much intending to fight even if he dies in the process, so it doesn't really make sense to me that cassian would go and confront luthen with the intention of dying right then and there, essentially giving up on the fight.

why would he give up now after everything he's been through, just when he's decided to fight back?

why would he give up when he knows what he's capable of achieving when he puts his mind to it?

"i didn't risk my ass for the starpath unit. i came for you."

this is what luthen says to cassian in "reckoning".

luthen made it very clear that he believed cassian would be of good use to the rebellion back when they first met in that warehouse. hell, it's extremely obvious that he'd already had his eye on cassian for some time before that. remember, bix hadn't even told luthen anything before he arrived on ferrix, but he still knew a hell of a lot about cassian already. so it's not that much of a leap to assume that luthen didn't actually want to kill cassian if he could avoid it—it'd be a waste of his talents.

thus i'd argue that the reason cassian says "kill me" is not because he actually wants to die, but instead because he knows that's why luthen and the others had come to ferrix. he was clearly a loose end in their eyes and as far as any of them knew, cassian wasn't even willing to fight and die for the rebellion—they believed that he was more than happy to take his cut and run which made him a liability. but a lot had changed since aldhani and if luthen knew how things had changed, he would likely opt not to kill cassian if acquiring him as an asset for the rebellion was possible. so if anything, it was a calculated risk on cassian's part because he knew luthen thought that it would be a waste of his talents—he'd been told as much already.

furthermore, we're shown time and time again that cassian is very observant + intelligent and more often than not knows how to play situations to his advantage without the other person catching on. so, i'd wager that cassian had enough of an understanding of luthen to know that he'd likely be suspicious of cassian turning up on his ship asking to be killed. this was a man who was so paranoid he'd never told bix or paak his name, so it's not too much of a stretch that he would instantly suspect cassian of having an angle. that's why he would have led with "kill me" before adding "or take me in". sure, cassian was prepared to die if it came to it, but he'd clearly anticipated that luthen would question his intentions instead of shooting first and asking questions later. giving luthen his gun was likely a calculated move to show that cassian was willing to lay down his life right then and there if that's what luthen wanted. cassian didn't have to do that, but he also knew threatening luthen + forcing him to take cassian with him would not have had the same effect. (honestly, the pause was most likely to add tension for viewers, not any sort of hesitation on cassian's part.)

so, yeah, i don't really think it's fair to say that cassian had given up and wanted to die when he went to luthen, especially after everything he'd been through. cassian deserves way more credit than that. yes, it was a gamble for him to go to the fondor knowing why luthen had come to ferrix, but cassian also knew that it was worth the risk because it was his most solid connection to the rebellion. was he sure that it was going to play out how he expected? no, but he was going to die either way, and getting luthen to take him in would at least allow cassian to fight the empire + do some real damage in the meantime. thus, he forfeits his own life for the cause. his life is no longer belongs to him, it belongs to the rebellion. so there's fear in that there's no telling what luthen will have him do in the name of the rebellion. then there's loss in that he'll no longer be able to go where he wants and do what he pleases, and that there's a real possibility he'll never see bix and others again. and there's resolve in that he's committed himself to the rebellion—all there is now for cassian is the fight and he'll die before letting them get what they want. but it's not himself he's fighting for—it's for those he just got off narkina 5 + ferrix and the loved ones who lost their lives at the hands of the empire over the years.

in conclusion: there's absolutely no way that he'd give up when he knows what's at stake.

[crowskyler]

About a month ago, my grandmother — my last living grandparent, on my dad's side — died. I've been wanting to sit down and write about it, but I haven't been able to actually do it before now.

It wasn't a shock. Her health had been declining for several months, and she'd been moved into hospice care roughly a month or so before. Two types of cancer and various other kinds of organ problems were the culprit. At 95, treatment options were limited, and she'd refused to do anything about it for months. I know this seemed to frustrate my dad, who went right into fight mode the second she needed to go to the hospital. He was carving out a plan with a specialist while my grandmother was sent to a physical therapy and care facility, where he had to fight her insurance tooth and nail — despite her not having able to walk more than a few feet.

Then a doctor from her plan got in touch with him and asked him why he was putting her through this. She was in so much pain from everything. He wanted to fight, but she didn't; she was over it. The doctor managed to convince my dad that she needed hospice care, to put together a plan to make her comfortable. And it worked. My grandmother was in much less pain when she passed, thanks to painkillers. When my dad told me she'd stopped eating, I knew what was about to happen. But my mind didn't really know what to do with the information.

I was at work when he called me, cleaning rooms at the hotel. Luckily it was a slow day and I only had to work a little bit more before I could go home, but I had to come in the next day. I was fine — unless someone talked to me about it, and then I was an instant crying wreck. I couldn't talk about it at all. My coworkers gave me a few hugs — the only people who did, and I'm grateful to them — and I managed to mostly get through the day, blessedly having two days off after that to attempt to process everything.

Or, I thought I was processing. But as I've come to realize, it was much slower than that.

My grandmother was the last of her friends to go, something that I'm sure made her feel pained and lonely; her best friend had died roughly a year ago, a lovely lady named Dorothy whom she'd talked to multiple times a day, for decades. Losing Dorothy took something out of her. Maybe that was the start of all of this. When my grandmother had been admitted to the hospital nearly 4 months ago, I'd started to see the writing on the wall. I'd already done some grieving and worrying. When she passed, I was able to feel a little glad that at least she wouldn't suffer anymore, laying in that bed and wanting to go back home.

As it turned out, my dad and the rest of my family very quickly went into practicality mode. My coworkers had put together a little lump sum for us, very kindly, and I offered to pay for a meal for all of us. A wake situation, or celebration of life — whatever you want to call it. My dad seemed bemused by the offer. Nothing's been organized. Instead, the project has been my grandmother's home. He offered for my sister and brother-in-law to buy it, and that's what they've decided to do, and now that's consumed everything. Sorting belongings, contracts, and finding an estate sale service to clear out everything we don't want. We're still in the middle of that. My sister sold her house and has about two more weeks until they have to move out. The estate sale will be this weekend, I think.

It's not my place to organize a celebration of life, or anything like that, but I've felt the absence. We had a wake for my mom a week after she died. Now, nothing. Just divvying up her belongings. Maybe we're waiting until my uncle can come down from where he lives, in about a month or so, I don't know. But my grief has sat nearly raw within me for weeks. When I go over to my grandmother's house to help out, it threatens to overwhelm me at least once. But with the exception of my brother coming over and breaking down a few times, my family's shown almost no emotion except on the actual day — when I heard it in my dad's voice. It's weird. Aren't we supposed to be commiserating and celebrating her in this time? But instead they're just gutting her house and acting like all of this is such a nuisance.

It's strange to get a hug from my coworkers and not my actual family. The silence has been deafening, from them and from the friends I've told. It's fine. I keep myself operating — mostly. And the lack of anything gave me a revelation, of sorts. When I was fifteen, I decided that I wanted to write. That's what I wanted to do more than anything. When I cleaned out a folder at her house, I found a story I wrote when I was a kid. Just some nonsense, but my grandmother had kept it for all of these years. She'd been an avid reader and had always wanted to read my writing, but after my mother had done so — and criticized it horribly — I became cagey about letting my family read anything. I'd wanted to become a published author, to present my grandma with a book she could read; to make her proud. But that hasn't happened. Depression and full time work have been a huge setback for years. And now she's gone, and I never had anything to show her.

I have many fond memories of waking up in the sun on her couch, while hearing the strum of my grandfather's guitar or the gentle brush on his drums, and smelling their coffee while my grandmother made us pancakes. My grandmother loved pizza, and she would often get it for dinner while I was there — and then we would have a cold slice of pizza for breakfast the next morning, another of her favorite things. She would give me a mini art lesson in the afternoon, or take me out for a walk, or let me play with all of her bead-making materials. In the late afternoon, she'd give me gardening tips while we weeded her yard and checked her tomatoes. In the evening we'd watch television. I'd sometimes beg to watch a nature documentary, which she was also happy to watch, or I'd content myself with whatever she found. On Saturday mornings we'd all watch cartoons together.

My grandmother was the most supportive person I knew as a kid, she would always listen to what I had to say. Even if she found it silly or weird, she would answer with words that made it clear that I was heard. As a teen who struggled with self esteem, it was everything to me. It's hard to accept that we can never talk about animals again (a mutual love of ours), or art; it's even harder to know that I'll never be able to listen to another of her lovely and funny stories. She had so many funny stories about the shenanigans of past pets and friends, and interesting stories about growing up in a rural and much less developed California. She taught me everything that I know about gardening.

And now I have to accept that I disappointed her, just like I've disappointed everyone else.

She would never say so, to be clear; she would hug me and tell me that she loves me no matter what, because that's the kind of person she was. If I said anything like this to her, she would tell me that I'm enough, I'm sure. But I've never managed anything impressive, or even average, and I know people in this family view me as a failure. I wish, desperately, that I had been able to do something to show her otherwise. Instead, I'll just have this emptiness for the rest of my life. No wonder so many people think of the afterlife as a shining place above, where you can watch your family below; future triumphs could be viewed by the dead, giving you comfort in life.

I hope writing down some of this has calmed the churning parts of me that haven't found any rest, these past few weeks. I'd like to start healing from this profound misery.

[aquaburst3]

I'm starting my own take on Pomefiore. That means Neige is coming into play a lot more. While I seen posts saying why they enjoy him and think he's a fleshed out character, I still think he's the complete opposite.

He has almost no personality. His good personality traits are similar to the Golden Aged princesses and princes. Charming, kind, gullible and easily forgiving. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. I enjoy Cinderella. I don't mind Snow White for what she is, especially given the fact it was one of the first animated movies ever and was created at a time when male writers didn't know how to write female characters yet. The problem is that none of Neige's similar traits are examined or developed. He is as static and bland as they come. Hell, Snow White from the 30s movie is a better developed character than him! That REALLY says something...

He has done some pretty shitty things in the arc. He picked his buddies to be on his team, slamming the door on anyone else at RSA with actual talent. Instead of working on his routine, he came up with a half assed on. He relied on the dwarves' cutesiness and childlike appearance to win over the crowd, going against everything the competition stands for. Do I think Neige is a bad person for this? Absolutely not. However, like Kalim, I think he's an inconsiderate, thoughtless and selfish person, who is like a Disney prince who just skipped straight to his happy ending without earning it. Unlike Kalim who learns that how he's acting is hurting others, especially Jamil, and tries to improve himself, Neige is treated as being in the right and never learns anything, despite hurting many other people. That is anger inducing.

He's also rather dumb and gullible. He takes the drink from Vil without even questioning it.

His connection with Vil is all "tell" and no "show." We only get Vil's perspective on the situation. While I love Vil and he's one of my favourites in the game, even I admit he's extremely biased. We never get a chance to learn anything about Neige from his own words. Vil and Neige never directly interact till the climax, despite Neige being the antagonist of that arc.

The same goes for his acting ability. We're told that he's an amazing actor, but are never shown any examples other than two commercials. Let's face it. Acting in a commercial is different than in a movie or tv show.

Honestly, the canon doesn't show us anything that proves that Neige is more talented than Vil in regards to acting and singing. If anything, it seems like the exact opposite. It comes across like Neige is coasting by on only his looks.

I'm 95% sure that Yana pulled that info about Neige right outta her ass after Rook's VA received death threats from the Japanese fandom. For one, all of that info came out AFTER this incident instead of being woven in organically into the previous book. None of it was even remotely hinted at in advanced nor makes any sense when you think about it more than a few seconds. It's so tacked on that I don't even consider it canon. (Seriously, why the hell wasn't Neige taken away by Child Protective Services if he was a minor living with seven other kids, who don't seem all there? What the hell happened to his parents?)

Any opportunity to give them a deeper connection is completely dodged by the narrative. Again, why aren't they stepbrothers? It would make them resemble the original story more and have Neige's backstory make far more sense.

At the end of the day, Neige is just a cardboard cutout for Vil to sneer at and that's it. Ironically, Neige's such an underdeveloped and boring character that Vil is better Snow White analog than him, despite technically being based on the Evil Queen. Both Vil and Snow White are adaptable, capable, stern, value hard work, and want to help out other become their best selves.

Honestly, it's a damn shame. Neige could've been an interesting and fun character, but that was all dodged in favour of lazy and shitty writing. Hopefully my take on his character with his new backstory will improve him a lot, including making Neige Vil's stepbrother.

[peacerisendove]

Big Ethel Energy S2 Episode 27

My big takeaways from this episode:

Ethel is constantly sanctimonious and wrong.

And one big thing that is wrong with this comic/why it reads so goddamn weakly is it and its characters lack a voice in which to engage with the readers. Instead, we are being forcibly spoon fed opinions of the characters from Ethel's perspective, instead of the personality and characteristics of the characters being allowed to speak for themselves and form their character, or being allowed to read into their actions on our own. The perspective of the comic, and I don't think this is simply because it is predominantly shown from Ethel's perspective, is forcing you to read characters in a singular and myopic way without even allowing for Ethel to be seen as an unreliable narrator. She's automatically deemed as right and correct.

Now on to the reactions:

ETHEL THE ANSWER IS NOT SETH!

IT'S YOU!

YOU CAUSE ALL THE DRAMA

God you know what I would love? For the comic to turn everything around on her and end up running her out of town for all the shit she's caused. Like this comic just needs to give up on being serious.

Also does this comic really think that one talk after being abandoned by your friend and cute matching outfits is really going to make be believe things are all hunky dory between them! Where's the anger?! Where's the rage on both sides! Why are we getting quick fixes?!

It has no perspective at all!!

Maybe this comic instead is about white people ruining things.

Also the fucking condescension! Do you talk to you friends like that? I hope not!

The comic continues Ethel's pattern of shit talking other people, which has been one of her defining traits since the beginning of the comic, but also making her the end all be all of who characters are. She defines other characters constantly. Jughead and Seth are prominent examples of Ethel defining other characters and particularly so when she deems them as "bad," but we've also seen this with

The story and characters do not speak for themselves, the readers and audience are not the ones interpreting, but rather it's more like we're being spoon fed what to think about all of the characters and it's infuriating when it is directly contradicting to what you see as the reader. There are these purposeful pivots and we're just supposed to take them, which feeds into my constant gripe that Ethel takes no responsibility for anything.

Ugh, I don't want to be told what my opinion should be of characters. Almost everyone is terrible in this comic and especially so the main character who lacks any self awareness.