#that man has zero self awareness lmao

[majimasleftasscheek]

hi I’m upset again

[jennifersminds]

stelena vs delena will always be so unserious because each side of the fandom will be like “our ship is superior because he abused her less!!!”

and look when i say i love a good old enemies to lovers with tons of emotional baggage i mean dair and elejah (we have taste 😌) and not chair & delena/stelena like how ppl lose their morals for such creepy ugly men amazes me

no bc it's so funny like,-

Stelenas: Damon was so toxic, he manipulated Elena and never respected her autonomy

Stefan: Stalking Elena for months, trying to drive her off a bridge

Delenas: Stefan was so abusive, he tried to drive Elena off a bridge, bit her, and slept with Rebekah just bc Elena didn't love him

Damon: killed Elena's brother, also bit her, also slept with Rebekah just bc Elena didn't love him

like,, the call is coming from inside the house. And the argument is literally never going to end because both sides are right, but also wrong with zero self-awareness.

and yes !!! controversial but enemies to lovers only work when the man is simping while hating otherwise it's just icky. He has to multitask- fight and kneel at once or I don't want it lmao

[grimlins-chaos]

Lo'gosh/Vari revamps! full body w/ comparisons to the og designs + alt looks + my mad rambling under the cut!

Do keep in mind these are my takes on the character and this is for my fic that's in the works where i'm doing some MASSIVE retconning of story and world building to 1, feed my brainworms because this *is* a warcraft x ffxiv crossover and 2, keep my fucking sanity because blizz retcons their own shit so much and the way they handle characters so inconsistently it makes me violently angry i fucking hate the books with every fiber of my being

I'm more than happy to give clarifications on some of my ideas just be aware that i might sound unhinged as i explain the ideas i've cultivated in my brain case for literal years like a conspiracy theorist so without further ado LET'S GO!

First things first let's get into Lo'gosh!

He starts off with his OG look as functionally it works and it's an iconic look in a ring where your gladiators are being pitted against guys who are damn near naked you don't want to disadvantage them with too much armor

the only few changes i made was switching out the sash for some more straps and the armored pieces are not nearly as bulky (i did straight up forget his spikes but i'll add them another time when i have a bit more time so just imagine they are there lmao)

But as iconic as the look is his clothes do deteriorate especially as my version of lo'gosh gets tossed around on the regular (think of captain america's "i can do this all day" while bloodied and beat the fuck up) on top of because it being such an iconic look Lo'gosh would need a change of clothes to replace the torn ones he was given as well as make him blend in a little more with your common adventurers, so when he meets up with allies in the eastern kingdoms he gets some new drip

he does hold onto the old armor pieces as to hold on to the lo'gosh identity for as long as he can before he has to return to being Varian Wrynn (to build more upon his feelings of "i don't know this varian, is that really the life i want?" in issue 7 of the comics because it was such a missed opportunity for internal conflict, we love a man who's struggling emotionally)

Storywise i felt that rather than have him be the strong willed half of Varian while the other half is more "weak willed" instead Lo'gosh and Vari represent two different sides of his ideals, attitude, and how he expresses love (yes we are going FULL fuckin' cheese mode here) Lo'gosh would represent the rebellious side of Varian, the one who would try so desperately to escape because he just wants to be free. Pre-split this would present most in his younger self who would regularly sneak out to have fun and support his people, away from the pressures of his duties that would later on take away any minuscule amount of freedom he had in his life. Lo'gosh also represents Varian's strong sense of justice, never afraid and not even hesitating to throw himself on the line to defend complete strangers because (unknowingly to Lo'gosh for most of the story) his past with a young abused girl that he once called best friend along with Arthas very much ingrained it into his head that he would never leave anyone who takes advantage of others and hurts them like how he had failed that girl

Lo'gosh is the side of Varian that's a force of nature that will act on the spot to protect others, unwilling to back down and has absolutely zero fucking idea on when to just give up (granted giving up seems more like a made-up concept to him)

When it comes to Vari (the nickname i gave to the more charming/gentle dad side of Varian just for the sake of making it less confusing) I do have a lot more to say so buckle the fuck up XD;;

In terms of design i fuckin' hate his pajama suit, i tried to redeem it, i very much did, but it wasn't workin' out for me XD It makes sense in that when it comes to Vari i very much see him as being extremely insecure, and so while katrana bumps up his charm to obnoxious levels the actual charisma he displays is a mask to try and hide his struggle. So it makes sense for him to make himself seem less regal and wear as simple as clothing as he can outside of obvious formal affairs and Katrana would very much prey on this especially as corrupt black dragons lean on self-importance and ego and so she'd make herself wear purples and reds while Vari blends more in with the crowd, she makes it so your eyes go to her rather than the fuckin king because she has manipulated her way to the top and holds all the power over him

But the whole body suit deal? uglier than sin, this ain't your wish medieval batman costume so for my redesign i gave Vari this

it was a combination of norse inspired renfaire tunics and as well as the outfits in one of my favorite movies; Quest for camelot (as King Arthur was a minor inspiration for my version of Varian)

And as for armor it does still have close resemblance to the og look in the comics but gave it a bit more bulk and baggyness in some areas as i imagine Vari representing the protection spec while Lo'gosh is of course fury, so to take a bit more of a beating he's got more protection

Vari being the half of Varian that retained his memories, he carries the brunt of the trauma and guilt brought on by all the trials and horrific events he's experienced but to cover his pain not only to try and hide from it but also in an attempt to protect his son and be there for his people (the mask of "everything's just fine" while the wearer of that mask is actively drowning). But Vari also carries the fatherly attitude of Varian, this is the half that presents Varian's love of his son the absolute most and for him he's willing to literally jump off a cliff just to save him. Vari will defend those he loves with his life.

Lo'gosh: Offensive Vari: Defensive

Together they are the two halves of one ballsy motherfucker you really do not wanna piss off

Anywho if you've made it this far i personally applaud you for subjecting yourself to my madness, i hope it was at least entertaining and a fun read!

[calzonekestis]

Argyle: *gets involved with all this crazy shit and endangers himself and drives everyone across country - goes out of his way to be helpful even though he has no real loyalty or investment towards these people or Hawkins, he’s just a Good Person and he cares about his friend Jonathan, and knows that all this is important to him and that he needs him. Steps up as the under appreciated MVP. Is also a brown man, tho*

Certain ™ M|M shippers: *crickets*

Eddie: Steve, my fellow Conventionally Attractive White Guy - remember when I said I would have let you fucking die if Nancy and Robin hadn’t been there? lmao good times

Certain ™ M|M shippers: omg he called him Big Boy that means he Wants him

Me, an actual bisexual guy, seeing the discrepancy between the fandom response: that’s suspicious. that’s weird.

Certain ™ M|M shippers: y’all just ship Eddie with Chrissy because she’s a hot skinny white girl

Me: ok so not only do you have zero self awareness in your allegations of casual racism nor do you actually care about queer rep - we already established the fact you’re just Horny but

Me: when referring to character who has an ED - played by an actress who has recently stated (after you invasively stalked her blog from when she was a minor in an attempt to defame her) that she herself in real life struggled with an ED

Me: you just carelessly and dismissively use the words “hot skinny girl” to refer to this character and this actress. you use hot and skinny as their defining traits. this is a thing. that you choose to do

Me: oh wow

Individual fans (and individual fans en mass) can be lovely - but each day I become more and more convinced that “fandom” as a collective hive is something that needs to be lit up with a flamethrower like a demogorgon.

It’s misogynist, it’s racist, it’s ableist, it doesn’t actually care about queer people.

It lacks any sort of compassion or empathy or respect or humanity.

[bigskydreaming]

Bruce Wayne upon Henry Cavill returning to the DCU as Superman: 

“Oh, I see somebody decided to go and STEAL MY ENTIRE CHARACTERIZATION on his summer vacation. Nice. Boy scout, my ass. Well, don’t forget where you are now. You’re not in Kansas anymore. OR Middle-Earth. Oh, I’m sorry, I meant “the Continent” (look, all fantasy lands are the same, everyone knows that. Its called the United States of Narnia? Read a map?) Whatever. Just don’t go around thinking you’ll be bringing any of THAT role into this one. Stay in your lane, Kent. I do the brooding around here, and I DON’T share well with others. Ask literally any of my children. I even compete with each of them for their siblings’ time and attention, lmao like why would I share my stuff with you? I’ve never even adopted you, like even a little bit, helloooooo. 

Oh, and btw, I still have my anti-Superman armored suit down in the Batcave. Its filed in the Aisle of All My Mistakes, Obsessively Archived For Posterity and Also Memorialized In A Super-Healthy And Not At All Concerning Way That Has Nothing to Do With Routine Self-Flagellation Because Reasons, no matter what Dick has told you. He’s a habitual liar, picked it up from me. I’m very proud. In addition to my anti-Superman suit I also have a lifetime membership to the Can and Will Repeat My Worst Mistakes Like Clockwork and Learn Nothing From Them Ever Club, so despite how disastrously everything went the last time I got my ass beat by you even WITH ‘prep time,’ no matter what the reddit Rumbles thread started by my sockpuppet account claims - y’know, back when I was manipulated into seeing you as Satan by a supervillain who looked at my ego and paranoia and said well this looks so easy even I almost feel bad about weaponizing it for Evil? - well, Poor Life Choices is the longest committed relationship I’ve ever had in my life and I’m WAY too invested to back down on that front now. I’d just look flaky. 

So in conclusion to this impromptu Powerpoint presentation that I just happened to have handy despite zero advance indicators I might need it and suggests either that I probably SHOULD be tested for the meta-gene or else that I really AM an extra-dimensional Batgod and everybody should be wildly concerned about that, the point is I’m ready to willfully disregard ALL of the aforementioned self-awareness and life lessons that didn’t stick, 100% prepared to throw down all over again if I see even a hint of that lip curling in a derisive half-smirk that suggests ‘I am cursed to share this planet with incompetent dumbasses.’ Just because my legal department still hasn’t figured out how to trademark a Mood even when its mine and I basically invented it, I’m pretty sure, well, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna just stand idly by and let you STEAL IT when plagiarism is a felony that carries a five year sentence. Minimum. Probably. Idk. Look, in this particular universe I mounted machine guns on my car instead of ridiculous physics-defying grappling hooks. I lost sight of Proportionate Responses literal decades ago. This is not new information. Let’s move on.

 Wait, what? No there’s nothing to read into the fact that I make a habit of watching your lips. You’re an alien. I’m a detective. I’m documenting how the topography of your face shifts in response to each and every emotion-incited twitch, all so I can plausibly pull off my ‘I can see into a man’s very soul by deciphering his micro-expressions’ bullshit with you too. Its literally for Science? I’ll write a book on it someday. Maybe. And if I do there will obviously be zero subtext about why I detail Kryptonian musculature in vastly more explicit detail than I do the mechanics of heat vision, duh, like lmao you sound so unhinged right now, literally what even is your deal.”

Bruce, walking away muttering: Who the fuck does this guy even think he is? And just going around adopting random orphans he trains to fight bad guys and save the world? That’s MY move. Everyone knows that! Respect my brand and go get your own, asshole. Jeez.

* this is a joke post that is not in any way meant to speak to OP’s actual interpretation of any Bruce Wayne that matters, just a random expansion on DCU movie Bruce Wayne who I disavow for being the Ultimate Bad Take of that universe on account of what the actual fuck am I supposed to do with a Batman who has his car gun down random henchmen in the name of literally nobody even knows at this point. Like, hello? Now what are he and Jason supposed to fight about and be forever tragically estranged because of? You guys gotta THINK about this stuff before you just go around throwing hundred million dollar budgets at the first pitch to go “here’s how a Superman and Batman fight to the death can still win, actually.” No, but seriously. For real. I just really hate Batfleck’s characterization. Like, with the fiery passion of a hundred thousand suns all competing in the official Universe’s Hottest Supernova competition. And as you can see, I am super reasonable and rational about this and am definitely probably likely to change my mind about it if exposed to just the right counter-argument that I have just never considered or been approached with before. And ‘tis not even an objection to his casting, the aesthetics, not the DC movie universe as a whole. Nay. Nay I say, with much over the top ridiculousness to blunt the edge of any inclination one might have to treat this post seriously because Somebody On The Internet Is Being Wrong persists as a problem that occasionally besets us all. No? That’s literally just me projecting and my experiences are not actually universal? Huh. Weird. Not sure I like that. ANYWAY, to return to the afore-mentioned NAY I SAY(s)....my grudge match is against Batfleck’s characterization and Batfleck’s characterization only. Consider this my love letter to how absurd I find it, rather than an invitation to The Discourse as even my substantial history of arguing molehills into Mount Everests isn’t up to the task of expanding on a thesis that is basically just “I just think it sucks and I hate it, bye.”

[selkymaiden]

so sorry again for the double ask but i feel inclined to ask for my other wife, mina.

how would mina’s relationship with each of the 🧩❓s that exist be like? who do you think she’d get on with like a house on fire 😏

Don't ever be sorry!!! Tbh they're good exercises to really think about these little idiots. Naomi you really be hittin' the good good 👌👨‍🍳 *chef's kiss*

Alright but let me say this is very hard because 🧩❓ is so... Ofc very vastly intelligent and I am not. LMAO. So it's like the author (me) is creating a character (Mina) who is very smart, or brilliant in her own way so I have to do my best in not making her look bad. Like fuck. All because I'm committed to the bit. Aka romancing fucking uhhhh puzzle face.

Because I have actually thought about the different iterations of him!

But oh my god It's so hard with comic book characters though, since theirs so many different ones. And in no way am I a 🧩❓ expert flakjwer same with 🐧 so I'm always worried what if someone see's this and they're all 🤬 but then I tell myself I'm old and I simply should not care and do what I want. Because all the rest of the old people do 😂😂😂😂

I'll start with BTAS though, as always, since I grew up with it! Oh! And I will say each Mina in each universe is for that universe, or she'd be changed a little to fit that 'Earth' as DC likes to call it. But BTAS 🧩❓ is a lot more tame, at least I think he is, compared to some of the others out there. I mean did he try to murder his old boss? Yes. But his old boss did fire him and not give him credit for everything he created so... You know... And if I pull in some of the uhhh New Animated Series and comics that go with this version of him. I think it could work. There's actually a great piece in the comics where 🧩❓ he admits he has a problem and states he needs to go back to Arkham himself. Here is an audio someone made of it, the post also has a link to the comic if you wanna read it! But it's just the self awareness and you know stop setting deathtraps Mina is obv going to be all 👀😊 Like you did it, baby! You're breaking the cycle! Because she wants to root for him and care for him and be partners! I'm so sorry I will just also say she is so cheesy! She'd love to be partners or rivals with another detective- As much as she sees the good she's doing in finding you know a missing person or helping someone out with a cheating scandal (for money) she wants to be better than anyone else that might be doing the case. So she kind of sees her job as a game and would love to have someone else to play the game with, and that to her is 🧩❓

Okay, let me just get Batman: Zero Year or Capullo 🧩❓ out of the way. It would never work. LMAO. Not in probably a million years. I myself like this version of him! But what he did is the most whack-ass shit and Mina would NOT be okay with it like ever. If he ever got out of Arkham Asylum she'd probably narc on him point blank, like lock that MF back up. I don't know if you've read Zero Year (is it part of N52? I don't know the new stuff sorry flkajwer) but he basically turned all of Gotham into an entire fucking jungle, like he destroyed everything and fucking ruined millions of lives. All for what? For what? Because only the smart should survive and shit like that??? Now if they met before he did all that when he was just a 'consultant' or strategist at Wayne Enterprises, she'd probably bang him! But it would not be a relationship and after he does what he does she'd just be... Kill this mf even if he's sexy in some insane manner. She'd probably be an antagonist to him on this Earth.

Batman 2022 ehhhhhhhhhh Imma be real, I almost barely remember him when I watched that movie. It's like my brain blocked him cuz I thought he was... I don't know. It was too realistic and I see 🧩❓more camp. But Mina in that universe again would just be 'Let's swat this man.' She'd probably be the person on his forums just heckling him and when he tries to find her IP or ANYTHING on this user (her) he can't. So it pisses him off. Basically, it would not work because she does not care for incel men. That's probably what she'd see him as. Or those people that worship or are fascinated and collect serial killer items. The only saving grace is if he had, again, self-awareness of what he was doing or acting. Because Mina in that universe would understand to change things... A lot of people in power would need to be taken out. Whether by assassination or some other means like spilling the truth. But the way he goes about it, it's just not it for her. Again she'd probably be an antagonist to him actually in that Earth.

THIS IS SO LONG ALREADY I'M SO SORRY!

UMMMMMMM SPEED RUN OTHERS!?

Young Justice - I think it would work because he's so... That version of him is so soft and goofy! Mina would probably, not be okay, but would defiantly harp on him to change professions but she wouldn't impede in what he does. Even if it's bad. Like super bad where the young justice league has taken him in before. She'd be a bystander and just the one that says: "I told you so." She's waiting for him to learn his lesson cuz how he's written is much lighter and she'd be smitten by his gappy teeth and lisp.

OH and Gotham!🧩❓ That would be interesting bc she'd probably have to watch out since 🐧 literally killed one of Ed's girlfriends. But if birb is occupied with snake then... Maybe? Again she'd be like 'lol you gotta stop killing people dude uhhhh' and would more likely want to be a rival or just outsmart him than be romantic. At first. I'm sure she'd get a crush but how Ed has been written after (accidentally) killing his first GF he's uhhhh a lil unhinged. As that whole show is but lakfjwerkl

There's like telltale!🧩❓, unburied, and uhhh omg just a lot of others and I'll be honest in most of those Earths she'd be an antagonist. She's not GCPD or a cop, but she is someone who's defiantly done cases and probably found out they were victims of his death traps. And she's just like 'wtf no!' and not be okay with it. Even if she's a bit of a hypocrite and is okay with other... murders... (her friend Sophie turning people to stone lfkajwer) But there's a line!

I saved the best for last because I love Akrham! 🧩❓ I have the most ideas for them. Well, several. Like there's a good ending and a bad ending just like a game, cuz it's fun! I will just say bad ending is probably the most likely that would happen, but bad ending is just them killing each other. And in the most mundane way, or annoying way he'd see it as. Because it would not be some elaborate death trap or puzzle that does him in, or just something complex. She shoots him. They might even shoot each other. And bleed out next to each other, very possession 1981 is how I picture it. tw blood and gore if you click links alfkjwelrk (I'm sorry I'm unwell 😔) It would be in a cool setting though! Probably in one of his lairs, or he's constructing a new death trap for Batman or even Wonder City! But good ending is always him eventually becoming a Detective, like other versions of him, so in a way, he does become redeemable. I mean originally this version of him started off working at the GCPD and wanting to expose the corruption in Gotham, he just went about it all... Bad. LMAO. Also, I love how the progression through the games you see how he goes from clean-cut to just total ratification. When Mina begins talking to him she's only seen photos of him, so when he worked GCPD and when he's in his nice green suits! but when they do get to meet in person PHEW she takes one look at his pathetic, skin and bones, wet little dumbass and is just 'I need to care for him' but also be mad bc you know he's annoying AF.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Pit Babe time, baby! I did not expect this to be the show I'm most excited about, but now I'm so sad we're almost done.

Note: there was an abuse scene in this episode that was hard for me, just be aware going in.

Not gonna lie, I rather like that Way was super ready to throw down with Kenta. He likes Pete back!

I do also need to give Garfield a shout out here, because he hasn't been given a ton to do as Kenta thus far, but his angst and despair while he was fighting Pete came through so well.

Lol, of course, what a natural way to dress a wound - sit on their other side and lean across them. These two.

Omg, lol. Alan working hard to beat the old man allegations.

Not that Jeff seems to mind, he's got quite the afterglow.

Omg, of course all of these idiots were home while Jeff was getting kidnapped.

The fruit thing is cracking me up.

Because they forgot to do the setup early on in the show - of Babe getting tossed a piece of fruit without warning and being able to catch it. So we just had the blindfold orange fail, and then this, which makes it seem like Babe has a very specific fruit-catching weakness.

But I do adore that Sonic and North are taking care of him. They're sweet boys.

I just cannot express how much I love Kim being completely adopted into the fam already.

And they're getting faster at figuring out when Jeff gets kidnapped!

Damn, how is the racing omegaverse show doing such an amazing job with themes of self-determination and self-worth!?!

Omg, this editing mistake, lmao.

We've found Sonic & North's powers! They're teleporters!

What a shocking unexpected twist that the only other male figure ever mentioned in the show is this man.

Omg, not Pit Babe doing the "put a bird on it" for the child abduction auction.

Holy shit, love-motivated Alan is fierce! He came outta nowhere!

Their plan is a little half-assed, but I do love that they're pulling zero punches here. Fuck those child traffickers up!

You fuckers! How can you end it here?!?! Nooooooo.

[thecatsaesthetics]

GRRM's blindness when it comes to Rhaegar and R/L at large haunts lmao. Here's the thing, and I don't know if I will articulate this well or not, but I don't have any issues with characters being terrible or engaging in terrible/amoral actions - these books aren't a moral play after all or an after school special lmao. But my issue is when characters act like that, but the narrative or author still wants to push them as good people we need to sympathize with and root for, while contradicting what the narrative shows with zero self-awareness.

I think he genuinely wants R and L to be seen as Good People(tm) who just greatly miscalculated their actions but the narrative just makes them into assholes lol with seemingly little self awareness by GRRM. Like, it's nice I guess that Lyanna wanted to defend Howland Reed or whatever but then having her watch Rhaegar publicly humiliate his pregnant wife and then being like, 'Yes, I am in love with him and will run away with him (while his wife and two babies are chilling at home) so I don't have to marry Robert who is a single, unmarried man having consensual sex...' I just.....am so baffled lmao. I feel like people think GRRM is a 5d chess master and all of this will be perfectly explained and make sense should he ever finish the series and I just....don't think that's the case lol. I just genuinely think he's so married to these juvenile Romeo and Juliet fantasies that his self-awareness was no where to be found when he conceived of this.

Like, he genuinely wants readers to find it romantic that Rhaegar said his teenage mistress' name when he died.....and then we find out that his toddler daughter he abandoned was hiding under his bed hoping her dad would save her before being brutally slaughtered. Like I'm sorry but IS HE INSANE LMAO.

Personally I think he got himself into a pickle. Martin never expected ASOIAF to become what it has. He expected a three trilogy fantasy series and wrote the basic plot points in the 1990s. One of ASOIAF biggest plot points is Jon is the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. He can’t undo that, it would break the story.

And so much has come out since the 90s about abuse, sexual assault, power, and age gap relationships. We have all grown in this matter. I think he might try to make Rhaegar as morally grey as he can but I think the basic plot that they were doomed starcrossed lovers will still be a plot point.

[a-spacecadet]

So I read the junior novelization of BiA and just some thoughts I had…

First of all very interesting to see all the deleted scenes in this book, I know that a lot of BiA media is wildly inconsistent because of late script rewrites (I believe this was the reason but correct me if I’m wrong, I do know however that Joe Dante struggled with retaining his original creative vision).

I really love this one scene that I had never seen or heard before when DJ reminds Daffy that despite his wishes to be a James Bond-like action hero, Daffy’s just a duck while he’s a real man with “opposable thumbs” (weird flex DJ but okay). This prompts Daffy to respond “yeah but can you do this?” hitting himself with a mallet that splits him into tiny daffys who woo-hoo manically and then reform into regular Daffy. Idk just thought that would be visually funny to see animated.

I also LOVE this one silly scene when Daffy sees one of those ridiculous hip-hop t-shirts with him on it and wants to buy it. I feel like that is funnier then the fun but cringey rap scene in space jam 2, and feels more self-aware.

Then there’s these additions the book adds like…“the handsome security guard” like geez I know everyone loves Brendan Fraser but that felt weird to read lol but maybe that’s just me

Also I laughed reading the first lines of the book

Like someone really loved alliteration omg…but even still it sounds so angsty for freaking looney tunes lmao

I was kinda sad it skimmed over little parts I liked in the movie (i.e. subtle baffy moments). I do like that one deleted scene when Bugs and Daffy are making fun of DJ and Kate about being in love, and they are mocking them together. Idk if actual baffy moment but still cute.

Ugh I forgot how much I hate Kate…she’s painfully unfunny in the movie and even more so here. She quite literally vocalizes her thoughts in the most banal way and has zero subtlety. -10/10 character tbh Idk if that’s purposeful since she is supposed to represent the out-of-touch wb exec and is only concerned with 🤑🤑 but…still.

Oh another scene I forgot is when Kate mentions disparagingly that Daffy’s fan base consists of “fat guys in basements” I literally thought of Ferris Wheelhouse—I’m so sorry 😅. I also appreciate the little anecdote that Daffy is still thankful for his small fanbase when he makes sure that Kate counted “Henry too” (I think that was the guys name) I somehow found that actually kind of sweet.

I also thought this line was SUPER interesting and perhaps a tad bit insightful

First of all “trying to sound sincere” for his sake? For Daffy’s sake? Maybe Bugs is so known for his sarcasm that his sincerity is still taken as being ingenuine. If so that’s REALLY interesting to me. Also the fact he practiced that speech? 👀👀 Does this means Bugs typically rehearses everything he says? Kind of like what people with social anxiety do? Has he built up such a image for himself that he feels he has to keep up with that image? OR is this just because admitting he needs Daffy is a hard thing for him to say? Does his pride disallow him from encouraging Daffy so he needs to literally practice saying “I need you” when push comes to shove? Aaah anyway this was really cool to see. Also Daffy not buying it for a minute is also telling. 👀👀

Continuing on that thought, wouldn’t it be really sad if Bugs and Daffy couldn’t grow in their relationship with each other because of this very reason? Bugs could deep down really care about Daffy (which tbh in canon I really think he does) but Daffy will never realize this because of the walls he’s built to protect himself from being mocked or tricked by Bugs. LIKE AAAAHHH

tl;dr Interesting and cool read but it was just okay overall

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

omg we are opening on a callback to chapter 212, a.k.a. the chapter with by far the cutest flashback that doesn’t involve any baby Todorokis

baby Ochako is lethally cute. she could literally murder someone with her cuteness. I just want to scoop her up and play airplane with her until she accidentally activates her quirk while we’re spinning around and we both helicopter up into the air never to be seen again

“a child’s insistence” huh well that’s all well and good, but I sure hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to drag out the whole “sternly lecture the obnoxious citizens” plot for another whole chapter. no offense but I think we’re good

so page 2 is just continuing the whole happy/worried faces monologue, which of course is very important to Ochako’s character as it provides the context for why “who protects the heroes” ended up becoming her thing. and this is making me think we actually are in for a whole second chapter of this sob. when will my boy finally get to rest

OH MY GOD SUDDENLY THESE PEOPLE HAVE EYES IMAGINE THAT

HORIKOSHI: [reaches for a box of tissues while tearfully penning an homage to his beloved Spider-Man 2, specifically the train scene where the crowd sees Peter without his mask and they suddenly realize just how young he is]

HORIKOSHI’S HOMAGE SCENE: “COME TO THINK OF IT, I GUESS IT WAS KIND OF MEAN FOR US TO PICK ON THIS TEN YEAR OLD KID WHO WEIGHS 75 POUNDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE LOST A FIGHT WITH SATAN’S MOLDY OLD BASEMENT”

lol at this one guy who can feel the mood of the crowd shifting and is all “WAIT, NO, I WANTED TO KEEP BEING AN ASSHOLE DAMMIT”

as many pointed out last week, this man is wearing an All Might shirt. that’s some fantastic irony there

-- SDKFJWIGKS

“LITTLE GIRL, I HOPE YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A SOVIET-ERA BUS STOP.” heh. last week I said I was ashamed of BnHA being my favorite manga. that was a lie, actually

(ETA: in the original Japanese Ochako’s next two lines are basically “the only ones covered in mud will be us heroes!” followed by “please give us some time to get rid of the mud”, with that second line basically being the single funniest thing I’ve ever read rdslkjl. Ochako thank you so much for supporting my running gags. “YEAH WE KNOW HE’S DIRTY. WE ARE GONNA TRY AND CLEAN HIM UP, BUT IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, I’M JUST SAYING. I MEAN LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE AN ASBESTOS COSPLAY.”)

doesn’t the megaphone kind of look ever so slightly like an axe that she’s wielding maniacally here

easy there Lizzie Borden

also that’s a really bold claim to make there. and not one she necessarily should have to make, either. but as we all know, there’s nothing that shounen manga likes more than having its heroes bravely hoist heavy burdens of responsibility like good self-sacrificing citizens

p.s. lowkey loving how Kacchan is positioned here standing slightly behind Deku. not presuming to stand in front of him all overprotectively (because he would hate if anyone ever did that to him), and kind of being unobtrusive and letting others take center stage -- but still being close enough to Deku that he can catch him if he stumbles or passes out again

(ETA: or maybe not lmao.

DEKU: [falls to his knees]

KACCHAN: [glancing up from his phone a few minutes later] “someone just sent me the stupidest meme about milk crates -- oh. uh. you good...?”

really, son. “the burdens you can’t carry, we’ll carry them for you. ...later, I mean. right now it’s late, and we’re all cold and wet.”)

also lowkey loving this OchaTsu moment here

I was going back and binging Ochako chapters this past week for reasons, and I gotta say it really stuck out to me just how often these two are paired with each other. they do everything together. it’s a really sweet friendship that often goes unappreciated but it’s very cute

meanwhile, not to be outdone by the OchaTsu, Iida is staring at Ochako with open admiration talking about how she’s fighting too. it’s been so long since we’ve had any IidaRaka you guys. I was starving and I didn’t even know it

oh my lord IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING

THE LIGHT IS BACK. he finally looks like him again. what a cathartic fucking moment omg

ffklkdw

“I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SCARED, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE DEFINITELY CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY AND WE ARE ALL SCARED TOO!” good pep talk there kiddo

BUT, jokes aside, truth be told this is the exact right approach to take imo, and something that’s long overdue. I’ve said this before, but this new generation of heroes is shaping up to be much more transparent than the All Might generation. they’re basically abandoning the almighty, untouchable Superman “heroes as gods” concept in favor of the more nuanced “heroes as people” concept instead. and that’s a good thing. seeing their heroes as humans, with human limitations and weaknesses and flaws, will hopefully not only lead to more scrutiny and accountability, but also more awareness of how hard some of them are working and how much they’re sacrificing. that’s something All Might never quite grasped back at the start of the series -- that the weak, vulnerable, injured him could be just as inspiring as the mighty, invincible him -- perhaps even more so. there’s a power in seeing otherwise ordinary people show extraordinary bravery and compassion. it inspires others to try and do the same

SSDLHK AIZAWA SIGHTING AAHHHHHH

so he was still back at the hospital this whole time?? smdh at this disrespect. that feeling when your sexy self-insert character’s powers of rationality are too strong, and so you have to nerf him so that he doesn’t ruin your Deku Angst arc twice over by (1) immediately talking some sense into Deku and making him come home Right This Instant Young Man, and (2) not allowing him to leave U.A. in the first fucking place. excuse me, you want to do WHAT now, Midoriya?? that’s it, go to your room

also living for Katsuki and Hawks’s soft expressions. Shouto’s too, although his is tinier and harder to see. and Jeanist’s 12-foot-long neck. imagine Jeanist’s head with Mic’s hair. maybe Jeanist had a mohawk back in the day and that’s why U.A.’s doors are so big now

speaking of soft faces, Enji’s is also excellent

what could this random close-up possibly imply?? hell if I know. but Horikoshi truly fears no discourse and that’s what I love about him

OMGGGG

“smh my child is so dumb.” poor Ochadad. your child is cute af count your blessings

SDOFFHSMH

I’m telling you guys. lethally, catastrophically cute

this speech is still ongoing lol. Horikoshi you’re doing so good but I think we get the point now my dude. you gotta learn how to transition out of these things

UNEXPECTED TOGA WHAT

“there we go” Horikoshi says, crossing off the last line on his list of Ochako ships. “that’s all of ‘em”

poor Ochako is just repeating the same “LET HIM REST, PLEASE, WITH EVERYONE’S COOPERATION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE APPRECIATE IT” talking points over and over again hoping someone will throw her a bone and acknowledge her already. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HER

literally they’re all just staring up at her silently omg. work with me people!!

now she’s saying it for the 56th time but more dramatically all of a sudden

they got so dramatic that for a minute I thought she had suddenly leaped off the building or something

look, not to rush you or anything Horikoshi, but I’m starting to get the feeling that this is yet another one of those “the volume is ending soon so I need to either hurry things up or slow things down in order to make sure we end it on my perfect cliffhanger ending” chapters where you go to ridiculous lengths to drag things out much to the exasperation of your week-to-week readers

(ETA: ftr, volume 31 ended on chapter 306, and I’m predicting that vol. 32 will end with chapter 316 (a.k.a. “you’re next!” [explodes]). I’m guessing vol. 33 will follow suit and likely end on chapter 326, so keep your eyes peeled for a big cliffhanger in two weeks’ time. Deku’s dad?? All Might in peril?? U.A. traitor at long fucking last?? we shall see.)

is Deku straight up falling in love with Ochako right on the spot lol what is happening

I know I just said that I enjoy when Horikoshi gives zero fucks about discourse, but shipping discourse is a whole different beast lol. I hope he’s prepared

(ETA: and for the record, I have no interest in shipping discourse either, as always. and I think this scene can be interpreted as platonic, tbh, with the context being that Ochako was literally introduced as someone who was willing to help him so casually without a second thought, and now here she is saving him again.

I don’t think it really fully hit Deku until this moment how much he needed saving. like I said in another meta somewhere, selflessness is basically just selfishness on behalf of others. and Deku is selfless to a fault, but that’s okay, and it doesn’t mean he needs to change -- he just needs friends who are willing to be be selfish on his behalf in turn. and I think the full emotion of what it means to have friends like that just hit him at last. everything his friends have done for him, how much he needed it and didn’t even realize, and how grateful he is. anyways what a terrible day for rain.)

-- son of a --

is he apologizing?? or pleading?? please tell me that’s not the case, because what the actual fuck. Deku you beautiful precious radiant selfless child, this is the exact opposite of how this should be. all these motherfuckers should be on their knees apologizing to you

DEKU WHY

I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS FREAKING BOMBARDMENT OF EMOTIONS GODDAMIT. OUT HERE ARMED WITH YOUR FREAKING TREBUCHET OF FEELS TO LAUNCH AT ME UNPROVOKED. WHAT’S WITH THAT

FREAKING CHRIST. THIS BOY IS CRYING HIS EYES OUT AND HORIKOSHI IS JUST ZOOMING IN WITH THE CAMERA, LIKE CAN WE JUST CUT HIM A BREAK ALREADY. ENOUGH OF THIS. HE’S SO YOUNG AND HE TRIES SO HARD AND I JUST NEED HIM TO FEEL SAFE, HORIKOSHI PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THAT ALREADY WHAT IS THE FREAKING HOLD UP!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY!!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY PLEASE BE MY HUGGER BY PROXY!! SERIOUSLY GIRL IF YOU JUST HOLD YOUR UMBRELLA OVER HIM OR SOMETHING AND DON’T GO THE EXTRA MILE I’M ABOUT TO LODGE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW

!!!!

A KOUTA IS GOOD TOO!!! oh my god if Kouta hugs him I will seriously 100% straight up cry. go on and test me

FOR THE LOVE OF --

is this man expressly forbidden from drawing hugs in his contract or something. DO YOU DO IT JUST TO SPITE ME?? this is tyranny, sir

AND I KNOW, THIS PAGE ACTUALLY CHALLENGED THE VERY PREMISE OF THE SERIES ITSELF, AND HERE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT HUGS, OR THE LACK THEREOF. “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” and just like that, he waves a polite middle finger at all of the Strongest Greatest Chosen One shounen protags of old, in favor of something much less conventional, much more interesting, and much more suited to Deku’s character. because if that one sentence doesn’t just sum up Deku to a T. he gladly relinquishes his Greatest Hero status in favor of acknowledging the hero in everyone. what a class act. that’s my protagonist

I love this kid so fucking much I swear. only just PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. GIVE HIM HIS HUG

[crossdressingdeath]

I feel like at least XY and JGY are self-aware of how terrible they are and the awful things they do, they hate everything and everyone and then themselves. But JC's so narrow-minded... he's self-deprecating, in a way, but immediately after he's unable to recognize his idiocy and own to his shitty behaviour and his horrendous mentality and lack of morals and... god, he's so annoying lmao. MXTX really said let's give every antagonist a charming personality and then ran out when it was JC's turn 😖

No, I am pretty sure XY and JGY are convinced that they're in the right. The difference between them and JC is a) they never openly start talking about how they're just so awful and no one loves them because they're the worst without ever actually realizing that they are in fact awful and the worst and that's something they should fix and b) you can see how they got to that point. XY and JGY both grew up in awful, damaging environments and are the products of those environments; it doesn't justify what they do, but you can understand why they do it. JC had every advantage anyone in the setting could ask for and was still awful even before things went to shit. Like, he's cruel and abusive and spiteful and petty well before the fall of Lotus Pier! He doesn't go through anything that isn't shared by at least one other character, and no one else with a similar background to his who goes through anything similar to what he does does anywhere near the number of horrific, unforgivable things he does! WWX comes the closest, and his biggest crimes are single events done in the heat of the moment with his control slipping so much I'd argue he's at most only partially culpable for them that he regrets later! Compare that to JC's thirteen years of brutally torturing people to death after directly causing the deaths of fifty innocent people, some of whom he owed his life to.

And I think the biggest difference is that... JGY and XY don't get away with it. They aren't faced with people who have given up and just want them to go away, they're faced with people who are angry and vengeful and demand they answer for what they've done. They don't get to run away from their misdeeds. JC does. Hell, he literally runs away after the golden core reveal! He runs off screaming! And it's hilarious, but it also means that JC is so terrified of facing the consequences of his actions that he will literally run away and do everything in his power to deny the truth rather than take responsibility like an adult. And XY and JGY don't even get that option. They hid their misdeeds from the people who are now judging them, and the truth came out in a situation where for one reason or another they couldn't just walk away so now they have to face it. And to their credit at that point they do seem to realize if nothing else that they hurt people they didn't want to hurt, if not that they were actively in the wrong. JC, though? JC never hid what he was doing. He treated WWX like shit to his face. He tortured people to death in his courtyard. JC didn't hide what he was doing, either because he knew it was wrong or even just (as I'm pretty sure was the case with XY and JGY) because he knew the people he cared for wouldn't approve. JC faces zero real consequences because the person with the most right to hold him accountable (WWX) was raised to believe that JC had the right to behave the way he did and has either given up on or never had any interest in justice or getting him to change. JC never has to face what he did because the people around him have given up on him ever reaching even the lowest level of human decency, so he'll deny it and push the blame onto others and at most leave them alone now that they've made the facts clear; JGY and XY are forced to face what they did, and seem to have at least some realization of just how badly they hurt their loved ones. I think we're supposed to see XY and JGY as sympathetic villains; not in the sense of them being right in any way, but in the sense that these are people who have suffered and responded to that suffering the only way they ever learned how to. JC, though, is just a rich, powerful man using that power to get away with the abuse he heaps on those beneath him, and a shit mother and distant father in a setting full of parents who are either terrible or dead does not make that sympathetic.

[preemshots]

johnny + the nomads lore

alright, i know this is a screenshots blog but i'm going to go ahead and start dropping some juicy lore tidbits as i dig them up. part of what i'm doing outside of just photo diarying is shard hunting, and BOY is there a lot the game likes to hide in those little shards for idiots like me who like to read so we can write unnecessarily accurate fanfiction! 

full disclosure, i know jack shit about the TTRPG/cyberpunk 2020 rulebook except what i read in the wikis. 

so here’s my lore roundup so far of everything i know about johnny joining the nomads

we know johnny likes to narrate v’s quest objectives. here’s the first mention where he says it himself: 

during the voodoo boys quest "transmission" there's a shard in the maglev tunnels beside the ice bath, presumably from brigitte's research into johnny in the first place:

okay, so the timeline is this: johnny joins the nomads after trying and failing to rescue alt. johnny hides out in the badlands for some years. then he and rogue come back to night city and nuke arasaka tower help alt escape the arasaka subnet by uploading liberator to their network once and for all.

this ultimately makes sense. in alt’s flashback, we meet santiago, who is a nomad/connected to nomads, joins rogue and johnny when they're trying to get alt back, and eventually becomes the leader of the aldecaldos. 

part of santiago’s TTRPG lore is that he, johnny, and rogue have to lay low in the badlands with nomads after they storm arasaka headquarters (i am aware the game takes many liberties with the original lore so who knows the full accuracy of anything from the original rulebooks)

ENDING spoilers: in the rogue+johnny storming AHQ ending, it's revealed that rogue has a son while they're prepping for the job. if you eavesdrop on her calling him while you're at the afterlife, you hear her tell her son to (paraphrasing here) "pull over and look at the stars", which immediately made my brain go to: nomad, badlands, santiago = dad? maybe. (santiago also canonically has a son according to the TTRPG lore)

this immediately reminded me of another interesting shard that i believe you can find in multiple locations around night city: “"what REALLY happened in arasaka tower?“

i love this dang shard. at first i thought it was just a cute conspiracy with some juicy gossip (and i love how 99% of the shards that mention johnny in this game are reminding us that he's not a real rebel, he's a poser) but it brings some interesting shit together

one: it tells us where johnny got his hands on the nukes! he and the nomads jumped a militech convoy and jacked some bombs! 

which is never directly explained, even as saburo arasaka is interrogating him shortly before using soulkiller. very nice of johnny to protect his homies like that. 

...or maybe he didn’t. saburo emphasizes that the dead don’t lie like the living do, and we don’t know what exactly arasaka did to johnny’s construct in mikoshi. 

it also explains why the obvious media narrative is that militech nuked arasaka, a nice neat political bow to the end of the fourth corpo wars, which is an entire section of the TTRPG lore that makes my eyes cross when i read it. 

it also makes the star/nomads ending extremely interesting, because i originally believed it was the ending where V’s journey deviates the most from rewalking johnny’s path... which also has weird implications if the johnny’s nomad era is being kept from v. 

(this also leads into my belief that the star ending/the devil ending are narratively two sides of the same coin, but that’s a WHOLE ANOTHER POST for another day.)

TWO, just straight up the fact that they turned the raid where they actually obtained the nukes into an action flick BD that pretty much ANYONE could watch. who the hell was doing that?? 

well, who else other than the guy who johnny (optionally) punched the shit out of for filming alt's death: thompson, media guy, and according to rogue, “bad luck”. because you know, recording your crimes is straight up evidence that can be used against you.

during the alt flashback we meet thompson, and just after that in cyberspace before meeting alt, johnny tells v that he has no idea what happened to him and that they never worked together again. 

oh, johnny, you lying bastard man

this is blatantly untrue, and if V even had two braincells and better memory than a goldfish they'd know this--in the first flashback sequence where johnny and rogue nuke arasaka tower, thompson is on the comms as they ride the AV towards AHQ, questioning their plans and use of violence. 

which leaves me with some questions, like where the fuck is thompson, why does johnny keep lying about this, why doesn't johnny say almost anything about how you interact with the aldecaldo clan nonstop throughout the game when he himself may have been a member of the family for some time?? is he continuing to protect the nomad clan that saved his ass? we know that a lot of his flashbacks are unreliable at best, that johnny changes shit up as desired when presenting V with his memories.

in 2077, you can also find that there’s a remake of “badlands raid” in the shard “new release braindances” that is pretty much everywhere. that shard doesn’t add much, but does mention something along the lines of “many people don’t know the ending of the original” which probably means johnny punched thompson out for filming again, or something. 

my running theories: rogue ditched santiago and the aldecaldos with johnny and thompson to nuke arasaka tower, and when johnny died she was stuck looking for (heavily implied by johnny here:) corpo sellout ways to survive.

adam smasher obviously has something to do with this since johnny/rogue's vendetta against the guy isn't entirely clear beyond the smokescreen of "he killed johnny and he sucks". i have done 0 research into this though i'm tired of typing okay

i obviously cannot be certain i have found everything related to this in the game as i’m not even done with this playthrough where i’m trying to pay attention, but i hope this is fun for someone else to dig into. 

enjoy, fellow silverhand freaks

EDIT: additional findings

ALRIGHT I HAVE DONE MORE DIGGING AND I AM BACK WITH MORE NOMAD/JOHNNY FINDINGS. these ones are kind of a bummer but VERY interesting.

there’s a shard called “excerpts from a history of the nomads by bb pires” that goes into detail about how nomads came to be

there’s an interesting quote in it: It's hard to imagine a group less inclined to wandering than farmers, but in fact they were the ones who sparked the age of nomads. Natural catastrophes, crops ravaged by bioplagues, armed conflicts and martial law allowing corporations to speculate and privatize land - all this forced them into a life on the road.

when you ask johnny why he wants to take down arasaka, he begins by referencing this himself!!

it’s a little awkward to imagine a nomad V doesn’t also know what he’s referencing, but hey, V is the fool because we are as players and that’s only one life path... so sure.

johnny also has unique dialogue during this scene about a nomad origin V, telling them that he’s been trying to understand how V thinks, and came to the conclusion that “their family was a crutch” and essentially made them stupid because they always had a safety net (lmao johnny calling v privileged basically)

BUT this also may reference why johnny would find it confusing as hell that V doesn’t immediately share the views he does when nomads, in terms of values, seem to be more aligned with johnny than V is. but once again V is the fool for a reason and this is all my own speculation so YOU KNOW.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, at the end of chippin’ in, when you ask johnny what he meant by letting down his friends... santiago is named directly

i thought this was interesting since the only glimpse of their relationship that we get is seeing johnny meeting santiago via the alt flashback for the first time.

so now it’s obvious that while johnny and rogue were with the nomads their friendship developed, and johnny went on to disappoint santiago in some way by being his normal dickhead self

but HOW? how did he disappoint santiago? is santiago even still alive?? did smasher kill santiago and is this why rogue mentions during chippin’ in that she wants smasher to “settle a score” moreso than avenge johnny??

the only additional hints i have are from this shard, which you can find at the aldecaldos camp: “nomads at ground zero”

i’m just gonna transcribe here and bold for emphasis:

It was no secret that Night Corp offered generous pay and, in some cases, free cyberware and biomonitor upgrades to anyone willing to help clean up the crater of radioactive rubble at AHQ ground zero. Some firsthand accounts recall the incessant ticking of Geiger counters, like the loud buzz of cicadas in summer. In retrospect, we can only guess how many "crater cleaners" lost their lives to radiation sickness shortly thereafter. Both the city government and Night Corp have claimed casualties were kept to a minimum, while providing no official statistics to substantiate the claim. That being said, they have never been under pressure to release such figures. After all, most rescue, engineering, and rubble cleanup teams were not local Night Citizens, but nomads. Surprised you didn't know? Don't be. It is a fact many history courses tend to overlook. The city employed hundreds of nomad mercenaries, primarily from clans in Aldecaldo nation. These nomads were hungry for gainful work and the city needed experts who were not only experienced but brave enough to knowingly put their lives on the line - all so Arasaka could one day erect another tower in its place. But history is not without its sense of irony. These nomads, who so deliberately live outside our so-called "system," came to its very rescue. Not for the first time. And not for the last.

a main theme we find in this game is the idea that the system of corps and exploitation cannot be stopped by grandiose rebellious gestures--no amount of samurai songs, assassinating mayors, or even planting nukes in towers will change things. yet johnny, his friends and mercs at atlantis in the 2020s, including rogue, chose to rebel any way they could, thinking it better than not. johnny criticizes her lack of rebellious spirit CONSTANTLY in 2077.

but ultimately, johnny, trapped in mikoshi, didn’t get to see the outcome of what detonating the AHQ nukes did to night city’s fragile ecosystem. rogue, however, did--and likely watched their former allies, the aldecaldos, be forced to take dangerous work at AHQ’s ground zero (from lack of other opportunities as detailed in this shard), then die from radiation sickness throughout the following decades, all as a result of what she and johnny did to try and fight the system. and she also watched all the former mercenaries of atlantis be hunted down by arasaka.

so rogue sees firsthand what the cost of rebellion is and johnny doesn’t. and nomads, considered the most free of any of the factions we encounter in the game, are the cost.

[trsilvers]

What is your favourite quote for each Team Rocket character?

Good question. This took me a hot minute but was really fun to think about.

Jessie - “Thank badness we’re alive!!!” I actually don’t remember which episode this is from, I tried to google it, but I specifically remember it because I used to quote it all the time. I just thought the idea that villains would actually say “thank badness” was hilarious.

James - Zero is a gross exaggeration, we are at least two to three percent worthwhile! (Talkin’ Bout an Evolution) James has like a million great quotes but I always loved this one. You have to appreciate his candid self-awareness 😂 A lot of my favorite Jessie and James moments are where they happily admit they are failures but remain totally undeterred. Also - literally ANYTHING he says in the Flaming Moltres episode 😂

Meowth - “Maybe if we started lookin at what’s the same instead of what’s different…well, who knows?” This is part of his little monologue in the first movie when he’s talking to the clone Meowth, I always loved this quote. I mean, what a great sentiment, delivered in a touching way that only Meowth could do.

Cassidy - “Oh I’m still shaking like a leaf officer thank goodness you were here to stop them before they hurt the Pokémon ~ oh!” (The Breeding Center Secret) Butch and Cassidy have a lot of great quotes, especially from chronicles where they started getting played for laughs, but I really love this one because it highlights Cassidy’s ability to turn on and off this fake persona she’s created totally effortlessly. The delivery of this line is just 10/10. No other episode has really showcased her ability to do that as well as their first appearance, but I always loved that about her. She deserves an award for that performance lmao 😂😂

Butch - “I am, but I like dry socks.” (Showdown at the Oak Corral) I’m sorry, there are also a lot of better Butch quotes than this but I have to pick this one because it made me laugh like no other. The man likes dry socks, ok? 😂 Also I think I just like it because it’s a little glimpse into Butch as a person, he seems like he can be a little particular about stuff.

Domino - “I’m like a totally off the hook fan of yours! I wanna be just like you when I get old!” (Mewtwo Returns) Domino, like Cassidy, has the ability to adopt a fake persona and do a REALLY good job at pretending she’s somebody she’s not. I love her ditzy voice she uses when she’s undercover, but this quote in particular because even when she’s trying to be cute and sweet, this was a pretty backhanded compliment to throw at that doctor. (I forget her name, but she wasn’t even old 😂) It was pretty funny.

Wendy - “Revenge is sweet, my dear Jessie.” (Dues and Don’ts) I mean, you have to love a good long grudge. The fact that Team Rocket even has an HR department is hilarious on its own, but the fact that it seems to be led by a woman who held onto a personal vendetta against a fellow employee for YEARS, all because of a fruit smoothie, is even better.

Attila - “I used to collect them, they’re very sweet creatures.” (Legend of Thunder) I’m pretty sure this is a dub only fact about Attila, but I absolutely love the way they dubbed Attila and the idea of someone like him with a soft spot for Caterpie is just…I love it 😂 Seriously though Attila has a whole score of cheesy dialogue, and I love almost every single thing he says. Yippie Yi Yay 😂

Hun- “You don’t get to run the world by being fair; you get to run the world by being nasty!” (Legend of Thunder) Hun…who hurt you? 😂😂😂 Do you need a hug? This was tough because there are multiple times in LoT that Hun has to try and keep Attila on task, which I love, but I picked this quote as my fav because I like that little glimpse into Hun’s sinister personal ideals.

Tyson - “You look a little…tied up! BAHAHAHAHAJSJFGSHKJAFLSNWSA” (Talkin Bout an Evolution) I’m sorry, I love bad puns, and that exaggerated laugh he does at the end, I love it so much 😂😂😂 There are lots of bad puns in the Pokémon anime, but this one…it’s the laughing at his own joke for me 🤣 And the fact that none of the grunts with him are laughing at all, dub or original. You can tell this is a frequent occurrence and they’re just over it. 😂😂😂

Pierce - “Then we’ll just have to see how good you are. *laugh*” - this might seem like a weird quote, but I picked it solely because of that little laugh he does at the end. Pierce unfortunately didn’t get that much screen time, so he’s not super quotable :( Which is a shame because he really, REALLY has a nice voice. It might actually be my second or third favorite, behind Sebastian and *maybe* Attila (only because I think it suits him so well)

Professor Namba - (singing) “Rage, rage, bring out your raaaaage!” (One of the Lugia episodes, I forget which one) 11/10 beautiful vocals, clearly should have been a singer and not a scientist. Seriously though the fact that Namba can be in the midst of such a cruel experiment and stand there and sing a song about it really highlights his insanity and I love it.

Dr Zager - “CURSES!!” (I forget the episode title, I’m so sorry) Again, someone who sadly didn’t get that much screen time, BUT we do at least have this quote. He’s overall a pretty serious character and doesn’t have any especially memorable lines…except this one. 😂 I love it. Very old-fashioned villain, Old Man Yells At Cloud energy here 😂😂😂

Professor Sebastian - “If you’ll kindly follow me, I believe you’ll find this…electrifying.” (Legend of Thunder) this is REALLY hard because I love everything he says, but once again my appreciation for bad puns wins out in the end. Also the confirmation that Sebastian does have a sense of humor, however bad, makes me very happy. 😂 Would watch an entire episode of Sebastian and Tyson making terrible puns. No, actually, an entire feature length film.

Giovanni - “I haven’t had any repairs done to those old blimps for decades. They’re completely unfit to fly. About the only thing I have maintained on those blimps are their insurance policies.” (A Scare in the Air) this is not only my favorite Gio quote but one of my favorite moments in the entire anime because it’s so dark. I even posted about it recently. Giovanni actually tries to have three of his employees killed and profit off of their deaths via insurance fraud. AND HE DOES IT IN SUCH A CAVALIER WAY YOU KNOW IT’S NOT HIS FIRST TIME DOING IT. Also you really have to just appreciate the confirmation that insurance - an evil greater than Team Rocket- exists in the Pokémon world.

(I’m sorry if some of these quotes are not exact word for word, I tried to google to confirm I’m remembering it correctly, but it’s not as easy to find some of these as you might think 😂)

[bugfishh]

Ok this is like a lot but 7, 8, 12, 21, 23 (a chance for an exercise in positive self talk!), 25, 26, 36, 44, 45, 49 for the “weird asks because I’m bored” post

7. can you swim? - yes:) i love to swim

8. have you had water today? - yes lots, i am a hydrated man

12. favorite tv commercial? - idk but i know my LEAST favorite is the “he saved at the pump” commercial that comes on during nascar races. eli if you’re reading this you’ve put me thru hell

21. your first celebrity crush? - god i genuinely have no idea. i think i found people attractive as a baby bisexual person but had zero self awareness. however i distinctly remember seeing janelle monáe at some awards ceremony and thinking “ok i am attracted to women.” LMAO ok i just checked wikipedia and she does not really identify as a woman. however those were my thoughts in the moment haha

23. five words that describe you? - sweet jesus idk. i’ll try: caring, rational (except when mental illness lmao), level-headed, introspective, transsexual;)

25. can you tie a cherry stem w your tongue? - hell no . i wish i could tho that would be sexy

26. do you believe in aliens? - i feel like it would be stupid not to honestly. like to think humans are smart enough to know there aren’t any other bitches out there feels hubristic to me lmao

36. how many alarms do you have set? - i only set 1-2 every morning. however. i generally make a new alarm every time instead of using old ones. one time i tried counting how many alarms i had. i stopped at 200 and i hadn’t even gotten to 10 AM. i am genuinely a freak amongst men. i have a problem.

44. do you collect anything? - i like cool rocks and other little trinkets:) i’ve also started collecting phantom of the opera merchandise i find specifically at amvets. so far i have 2 cassettes and a cd :)

45. favorite tea? - good chai has a vice grip on me. i’d chug it if i had the resources

49. what scents do you like? - i’m a whore for any candles or perfume with vanilla/sandalwood, anything deep with “sensual” or “warm” on the label lmao. but i also enjoy the brisk smell of air, like during springtime or when you’re at a beach. it’s so special:)

[roublardise]

my "Crowley isn't attracted to women" take

for @spnprideweek - day 2 - mlm

cw: dicussion of homophobia & transphobia all in all I wanted to highlight how canon gay Crowley is bc I love him 💕 thank u spn for Crowley even tho he deserved better

in the last weeks I've realized there's a huuge consensus in the fandom for pansexual Crowley. if you're pan or not and wanna hc Crowley as pan, power to you! but what's bothering me is the non-discussion of it all. the way it seems obvious for everyone. whereas, to me, Crowley has been canonically gay all this time.....

disclaimer: I'm aware Mark Sheppard alledgely said he saw Crowley as pansexual, however I can't even take these words for canon without context. Especially not when a year later he'd say Crowley's sexuality didn't matter. The way Mark Sheppard talks about characters' sexuality is more a "why are people making a big deal let them be" than "the character doesn't care." Moreover, actors pov can't be taken as canon imo. Jensen Ackles thought Dean straight for so long when Dean's been bi all this time as well. Sometimes actors are biased by their own experiences & stereotypes!

disclaimer #2: on god I don't wanna start discourse lmao. I just wanna share my silly thoughts about a tv show & question the way Crowley's sexuality is written in this silly homophobic tv show. don't @ me about what's making you think Crowley is indisputably pansexual bc I assure you I already know your points

That being said, here's why I think Crowley is a bear, a gay man, a trans gay man actually, a homosexual, who isn't attracted to women & some food for thoughts about why the unquestioned consensus towards pan Crowley could have roots in both homophobia & panphobia.

I don't think we can think of Crowley as your usual demon. We know too much about Crowley's life as a human, and the numerous ways in which he acts un-demony, almost humanly after. Considering him simply like a demon with no concept of gender preference who would be pan “by default” wouldn’t be right with his character. But we also can't question his sexuality in the exact same way we would a human's.

It also can't be thought in the same way as angels': as once-humans demons do have a concept of gender. Crowley especially cares a lot about his gender presentation and the way he's addressed. Not only does he literally sell his soul for a bigger d*ck as a human ; as a demon he uses the same vessel where other demons are shown to move once they had to leave one ; and for the few hours Crowley's possessing a woman, he clearly states he should still be referred to as king.

This will all be used for homophobic & transphobic jokes in the show, but I'll get back to that later on. Gender does matter to Crowley's identity, and I think it could be extended to his sexuality.

I've seen numerous descriptions of it all saying Crowley's sexuality was "ambiguous" and I guess it is, as he never explicitly used any label. However "ambiguous" doesn't mean bi or pan. It doesn't mean anything besides the fact we can't draw a clear-cut conclusion of his sexuality.

Imo we can actually draw a clear-cut conclusion of Crowley's sexuality but yeh, I'm getting there.

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Let's take a look at canon events around Crowley & sexuality!

His character introduction is him enjoying making a homophobe man kiss him for a deal

It is rumoured that he was a demon's lover (Lilith's)

He heavily flirts with Bobby

He french kisses Bobby for a deal and takes a pic

He never kisses a woman on screen (tell me if I forgot anyone!)

He flirts with every single man he sees, and even more strongly when it's making the other uncomfortable

The other parent of Crowley's son is never mentioned nor even brought up

He has two orgies that we know of

He has sex with a demon who's possessing a woman (Lola) when he was addicted to human blood

He dates, has sex with, and asks Dean to rule Hell with him. He's in love with Dean

On late spn he drinks fruity drinks

He flirts with and implies he had sex with an angel (Naomi)

He flirts with Death (Billie)

He's into BDSM

I'm not gonna go into details with all the sexual stuff he says bc there's a lot.... But it's always about gay sex. (once again, if I'm forgetting smth pls tell me nicely)

Now, with all that I'd like to question specifically the elements people use to say Crowley is canonically attracted to women.

He has two orgies that we know of

There’s the one Crowley has while he’s himself possessing a woman ; iirc it’s a foursome with two other men and one woman. Crowley still counts as a King, as the show makes sure we know, admitedly this dialogue implies we should still think of him as a not-very-manly-man.

Honestly, if one is convinced Crowley is attracted to women based on this scene.. okay. Personally I don’t see it because the orgy is unplanned, it’s an opportunity Crowley takes. Is he even attracted to the two other men?? Who knows. We don’t even know if Crowley even touches the other woman, there’re so many ways to have group sex. Even if he did, having sex with one woman doesn’t make it impossible for him to be homosexual.

The second orgy is with Dean. Crowley describes it then: “We've done extraordinary things to triplets.” It’s interesting how before I went to check, I thought it was clear the triplets were women. But not at all! I’ve been tricked by heteronormativity myself. So this is up to interpretation. Even though the way the show doesn’t make sure we know the triplets were women is pretty telling (as I’ll talk about later).

It is rumoured that he was Lilith's lover

Well, this is a rumour. In this relationship Crowley would know Lilith as a demon possessing a woman, and Lilith would know Crowley as a demon possessing a man as well. Who's even to say they met in their vessels to sleep together. That's the kind of cases in which the ambiguity of Crowley human/demon situation makes it impossible to draw any kind of conclusion towards Crowley's attraction to women. Also if anything Lilith is clearly a lesbian lmao.

He has sex with Lola when he was addicted to human blood

Same thing here, the relationship is one of demon/demon. Though we do now they do meet in their vessels to sleep together. Besides that, the sex happens while Crowley is at a low point. She's the one bringing him human blood, which makes the sex more of a transaction than anything. It does fit a very grey area of consent which would be fair to question.

We can't know for sure whether the demon possessing the woman was a woman as well, but let's say she was: 1/ Crowley having sex once or twice with a woman doesn't prevent him from being homosexual. 2/ What is he seeing if not a demon's true form? 3/ Wasn't he in a self-destructive mental state?

It's a stretch, imo, to assume Crowley was attracted to her.

He flirts with and had sex with Naomi / flirts with Billie

This one is so ridiculous to me bc Naomi is an angel and as a demon, Crowley sees her true form. We don't even know who was her vessel when they had sex.

The flirt thing is interesting however, bc iirc Naomi and Billie are the only "women" we see Crowley actually flirt with. During the orgies or the demon sex there's no flirt involved. It's interesting bc, as Cas would say: "Naomi's vessel is a woman. Naomi is an angel."

Same case for Billie who's a reaper then Death. Spn is pretty unclear about how the whole thing works but we know reapers are kind of angels. In any case, I won't go as far as saying Billie has any connection to gender.

Moreover, the way Crowley flirts with them is pretty light next to everything else Crowley says to men. It's pretty personal, I'm aware, but I do relate a lot with the way Crowley flirts with them VS how I flirt with men just because (and I'm a lesbian).

Anyway! Both Naomi and Billie are supernatural creatures, which brings the count of women Crowley flirts with to... zero.

-> What I take from all that is that Crowley is attracted to men for sure ; to angels and demons ; and doesn't care about the genitalia involved in the sex he has. We have nothing about the kind of relationships he had as a human. His gender presentation matters a lot to him. The only long-term commitment he has is with Dean. I wouldn't even say he had a committed relationship with Gavin's other parent bc we don't know anything about them.

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But what's my deal with homosexual Crowley? One can wonder, if Crowley doesn't care about bodies, doesn't that mean he can still be written as pan?

No! First because sexual attraction isn't about genitalia (even if transphobes would argue the contrary but they're transphobic so...). And second, well....

I would refer to this point as "how do I know Crowley isn't attracted to women? bc Dean is"

I'm convinced that if the show wanted to write Crowley as anything other than a gay man, it would have been way more obvious.

This is a show who wrote Dean catcalling a faceless woman on the street, for no other reason than to remind the viewers Dean was attracted to women & to balance it with the following homoerotic scene.

One could say spn doesn't have lots of women characters to begin with, but that's my point exactly: when spn wants to show attraction towards women, they do find women for people to be attracted to. Hell, they even give Gavin some girlfriend but never ever bring up the topic of Gavin's other parent. Even though an entire episode is dedicated to learning about Crowley's past.

What's important to understand Crowley's sexuality isn't the people he slept with ; it's the people he doesn't show interest in.

The absence of something is the presence of the thing, blablabla. It's a way to look at homosexuality that heteronormativity makes hard to see because, unconciously, we don't tend to question attraction towards the expected gender. One would ask for a 10 pages essay on why a character is gay, but one would need only a 2 sec kiss to assure a character's heterosexuality or attraction towards the expected gender.

----------------

In Crowley's case, his attraction to men is a huge part of his character right from the beginning (thanks god, at least no one's questioning that). Spn as a show that hears what the fans are saying and twists writing accordingly, is perfectly aware of that. Yet rather than pushing women at him along the course of the show to remind everyone how Not Gay Crowley is - the opposite happens.

Yeh, Lola, Naomi, Billie, they all happen in the later seasons. But even then, the show somehow can't write Crowley as attracted to a human woman.

What happens then is: not only does Crowley fall for Dean ; he engages in some BDSM play with Lucifer : and he switches from drinking only the finest Scotch to fruity cocktails.

The BDSM thing as well as the drink thing are choices rooted in stereotypes, that's how spn is! But it does canonize Crowley's homosexuality. They're depriving him of his "masculinity" as the show goes on, because they purposely write him as homosexual. I don't think spn would have ever written a bi or pan character that way.

We learned a few days ago that Crowley died in a gutter. He died in a gutter for a bigger d*ck. I'm just gonna refer to Oscar Wilde & Mika on this : "some of us in the gutter are looking up at the stars."

The "referred to as king" scene isn't about Crowley being a demon and so not caring about gender - it's the opposite. Other demons are the ones poiting out Crowley's vessel. This is a transphobic joke. It's the demon edition of the "gay boy in a dress" transmisogynistic trope.

Viewers aren't supposed to be on Crowley's side ; we're supposed to be giggling with the other demons while Crowley is being emasculated. Crowley gets a woman vessel because he's a not-very-manly-man, because he's a trans man, because he's homosexual.

And I know that bc Dean is written as bi, and all they're doing is reaffirming the way he does like women while being extra subtle with his love for men.

Meanwhile Crowley is losing influence and power, loses his authority as he loses his throne in Hell, gets humiliated by Lucifer, until all his character revolves around is his love for Dean. The way Crowley is then protrayed as some lovesick ex who can't move on is, imo, a straight man fantasy. Crowley's love is both used as predatory and as a tool to validate Dean's Peak Masculinity.

Spn has been burying their gays all along, and Crowley was right there being punished for not only being in love with Dean but for not being attracted to women. For never being able to be a "normal" guy. For never being able to be seen as a "normal" guy. For checking every homophobic stereotypes in the books. Crowley as a human dies because he's a trans man. Crowley as a demon dies because he's homosexual.

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That's what leads me to be uncomfortable with the way the fandom seems to have a consensus towards pansexual Crowley. (Once again: idc about people's personal hc of Crowley as pan, I just want to think critically about the way no one thinks twice about it & accepts it as canon so easily. Hell, just bc I dared to ask what started the pan Crowley confirmation I got accused of erasing his pansexuality. All I did was ask a question.)

To me, it feels like erasing everything his character went through because he was gay. And it seems to be taken from a reasoning which is going to assume Crowley is attracted to women.

I mean: the reasoning would go "oh, Crowley clearly has a non-straight sexuality -> he's attracted to men -> he's pan" His attraction to women being accepted by default, without needing any backup. And when I look at the canon I see nothing implying he'd be attracted to women. Taking Crowley's attraction to women for granted is following an heteronormative thinking.

Being into people isn't all about who one sleeps with. It's about love. And when we look at what spn shows about Crowley's close relationships, the only meaningful one he got is with Dean. When Rowena wants payback for Crowley making her kill Oskar, she goes for his son.

And it's SO interesting to me because if angels can't be in love because they don't have a soul - can demons? as they're beings with a destroyed soul? And if so, how powerful of Crowley to still fall in love with Dean Winchester.... the power of gay love :) (Crowley 🤝 Cas)

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To conclude all this with some more stuff to think about if, like me, you love questioning everything:

While it's not wrong per se to hc Crowley as pan, it can be worth questioning what's making us so sure we collectively just vibe with it? To me there's a few things: - As I was saying: heteronormative bias - Crowley being a non-fully-human character - Crowley being masculine (despite the show's attempts to erase that) - Crowley being into BDSM - Crowley flirting and making sexual remarks in every context

These, unconsciously, gives a vibe of a character who's "outside" of the gender norm, not making big deal of their sexuality, not even questioning it. This creates this idea of "ambiguity" around Crowley's sexuality. The way Crowley particularly seems to be really chill about sex, is a demon (so what does he know about gender?), and heavily flirty, ... is what most people will link to pansexuality. That doesn't mean thinking of Crowley as pan is being problematic™ ; this means in western medias that's what fills the "pansexual character" imagery (like basically: the Jack Harkness type).

However, when we look at it like that, none of these elements are defining of pansexuality. None of them are excluding him from homosexuality. If not stereotypes.

That's where it gets personal ; but it does make me feel like the huge consensus towards a pansexual Crowley (when there is no clear-cut evidence of it) is erasing the complexity of homosexual experiences. As I said at the begining: I'm happy if pansexual people can relate to Crowley ; everone's free to headcanon. But saying Crowley is canonically pansexual is a stretch - and a take rooted in homophobic stereotypes.

Imo Crowley may have been created with all these traits pushing towards a pan reading of his character. However, as the show went, he was clearly written as a homosexual man. The changes in his portrayal took a turn to be specifically homophobic. He gets imagery that only strictly homosexual characters got (such as drinking fruity cocktails like Aaron. Meanwhile Dean, on the same scene, is allowed beer & whiskey.)

We're used to taking spn's homophobic rep and jokes to make it our own. Yet it seems, when it comes to Crowley, the fandom doesn't see it.

Sometimes people aren't attracted to the gender heteronormativity expects them to be attracted to.......... sometimes people are gay and it's not an umbrella term.

[shiegra]

@loisfreakinglane​ i’d actually disagree here! while i’m sure it was easier for Zack to ingratiate himself than it would have been for, say, a very respectful and clean cut black man, it was also Zack deliberately presenting as very WASP-y clean cut defer-to-authority type.

whereas alec is just fuckin lazy in s2. s1 normal would have been very swiftly disillusioned and would have judged the hell out of him along with sketchy. although tbf i assume in the hands of the season 1 writers they would have played up alec’s calculating chameleon nature and had him be less dumb and lazy re: normal, had him actually flipping presentation and stuff.

I really think them playing the Normal & Alec storyline the way they do is a) homophobia and b) more flattened, misunderstood characters. I GENUINELY CANNOT BELIEVE THAT IM GETTING ANNOYED ON NORMAL’S BEHALF LMAO....but then again it’s also because of the aforementioned homophobia and the way cindy gets shafted.

normal is so well handled in season 1 because they fully understand the worst and best parts of his character, and also the fact that the best parts of his character don’t wipe out or negate the better parts. they have characters react to him realistically. he’s a bitter old man with biases, but like many conservative people on a day to day basis they do regard people around them as human and interact with them in a nuanced way. (the extremes do exist. i’ve had them as coworkers. but by and large....)

for example, the reveal in ‘out’ of his friends and demeanor outside of work still fit pretty well into the show’s concept of him. yeah, he has an occasional softer side, and a shit-ton of internalized classism and bootstraps ideology. the puzzle piece fit okay, even if parts of the episode were utterly unsavory. the reveal of him frequenting cage fights and being a rabid onlooker makes no sense, and ZERO effort is made to fit the reveal into his character and make it feel like an unexpected facet of him instead of an asinine asspull.

in s1 the show’s aware of his humanity, and also aware of how that doesn’t negate how BS and frequently toxic his biases are, so the messengers always get to push back, frequently get to go loggerheads with him and outright win if not come out even. It’s well done. s2 throws that out: it makes him more vile, then turns him into a homophobic joke, but then throws in a ‘redemptive moment’ as if that full on does wipe the slate clean.

there’s a similar flattening and glorifying of sketchy’s character, as if to try to put herbal in his place while keeping the white dude. in s1 he doesn’t mean poorly, by and large, but he’s self-centred and will talk himself around to believing what he wants about a given situation, leaving the people around him to deal with the consequences of reality. and the writers knew how to handle that trope by having the people around him get to be fully realized characters and push back.

in season two he’s just.....generic ‘stoner but when things gets rough he gets super serious and has a ~quiet honest confrontation about how you treat friends’ because again, they wanted to fire the black actor but still wanted the friend group presence of herbal.