#that's like a major character flaw of his

[aotprncss]

MY MAN - SATORU GOJO

satoru as your man - jealousy problems to the max, and will never let you forget it. ever. "why don't you ask your boyfriend nanami to open that for you? bc he's so smart isn't he yn ..."

satoru as your man - might be the biggest flirt you've ever met. you've gotten on him about it multiple times, but it just comes natural to him. and as amazing it is for you, it irks you when you see another girl biting her lip over him

satoru as your man - the type of man who enjoys seeing you irritated or jealous. its a major character flaw of his but he cant help but giggle when you raise your voice at him

satoru as your man - "why are you so far away mama? cmere"

satoru as your man - the type of man to text you something needy when you two are in a public setting, just to see you get flustered

satoru as your man - LOVES LOVES LOVES physical touch. are you in his way? he'll grab onto your waist to get what he needs.

satoru as your man - "a bonnet? can I wear one, looks snug"

satoru as your man - always clings to you when you two are in public, like he's your own personal body guard

[bestworstcase]

the perennial Tai Discourse is really interesting to track bc, speaking broadly, the two major camps are just:

those who focus primarily on ruby’s recollection of her childhood and relationship with her dad (and filter what yang says through that lens such that “i had to pick up the pieces and keep things together when i was five” gets diluted into “yang had responsibilities as a child”)

those who focus primarily on yang’s memories and her arc in v4 (and tend to just ignore or minimize the things ruby says that suggest a positive relationship with tai, in particular often just flat out disregarding how excited ruby is to spend time with or receive care packages from him)

when it’s like. yeah that’s. literally the point. that ruby and yang had profoundly different childhoods.

they’re half-sisters in a story about fairytales and only one of them had a decent dad. rwby is unsubtly interrogating the fairytale archetype of the Evil Stepmother/Dead Mother with raven (not dead, but absent) and summer (villain, presumed dead) and that archetype quite literally requires its counterpart archetype of the Neglectful Father who remarries and tacitly participates in the Evil Stepmother’s abuse of his child from his first wife

tai is as much an exploration of the fairytale Neglectful Father as raven is the Dead Mom and summer is the Evil Stepmother. that’s. a core aspect of the narrative surrounding the rose xiao long family.

the Dead Mom often reincarnates as a bird or tree or similar spirit to watch over her child; rwby turns this on its head by reimagining the Dead Mom as an absent one. raven watches over yang in her bird form because she is too afraid to be meaningfully present; she isn’t dead, but her absence in yang’s life is so complete that she might as well have been, and the fairytale tension between the Dead Mom’s death and her lingering presence is explored through these cramped and inadequate half-measures raven takes in trying to have it both ways.

the Evil Stepmother is a vehicle for making the fairytale heroine miserable; she has no identity nor any reason for her monstrous treatment of the child who is not her own. rwby, again, flips this over with the mystery of summer rose. who was she, really? did anyone know? she was a good stepmom—she loved yang like her own daughter—but now she’s gone. she left. she never came back. she lied. she joined salem. why? what expectations did she feel on her shoulders? what broke her? why did she do the things she did?

lastly, the Neglectful Father must either be a love-blind fool or a weak, contemptible man with no love or loyalty to his own blood; he forgets his motherless child at the behest of his new love. rwby turns this on its head too by rendering tai as a human being—messy, flawed, fully-realized. wicked stepsisters exist for the purpose of being spoiled by the Evil Stepmother in juxtaposition with her cruelty to the first child, who is kind and good because she remembers her mother’s lessons. the fairytale children of these archetypes function as repetitions of their mothers. rwby makes that the central conceit of its spin on the Neglectful Father: what if he loved both the Dead Mom and the Evil Stepmother so much and then both of them broke his heart in mirrored ways, leaving him a single father to both of their children? if he sees raven in yang and summer in ruby, how does that color his relationships with both girls? if you take away the Evil Stepmother but not her daughter, does the Neglectful Father remember his first child? or are people more complicated than that?

and with all three, the narrative engages with these one-dimensional archetypes by constructing complicated, multi-faceted characters on top of them; by tossing the simplistic moral didacticism of a fairytale and presuming, first, that everyone is trying their best, that bad choices can be made from good intentions, and that no one gets it right all the time, or even most of the time. love and profound dysfunction can coexist.

ruby and yang had very different childhoods. that’s the narrative foundation the whole rose xiao long family is built on, because they’re a deconstruction of the archetypal fairytale blended family.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

when toshiro got on laios ass for being inconsiderate and never thinking about how his actions affect others like he was mean abt it but hes not wrong. Thats a pretty major character flaw and a pattern of behavior for laios — w not choosing jobs that made money for namari who is in a pretty dire financial situation where she cant even get off the island and has to go adventuring in the dungeon to get out of debt, who even explicitly brought this up, eating marcilles familiar immediately even tho she was attached to it, kidnapping shuro into his party and putting him in life threatening situations without like really checking he wanted to be there…?, wanting to see if izutsumi has more than one set of nipples when dehumanization is a HUGE huge issue for her the list goes on and on and on. Like when a friend does this to you its just kinda annoying but when ur the leader u really should be checking if everyones needs r met without them telling u. Like the autism plays a factor for sure, his cultural upbringing plays a factor for sure, but as ppl regardless I think u gotta step up to meet the needs of ppl in the moment or realize u shouldnt be calling the shots. just bc its influenced by factors out of ur control does not make it not a serious character flaw. And its written as such in the story.

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

The Inevitability of the Fate of the New California Republic

I know I'm late to the discussion, but I have a Fallout show hot take - I like that the NCR, as we know it, is gone.

Why? Because Fallout: New Vegas essentially says that they're doomed to extinction.

Three of the major faction leaders (Benny, Mr. House, and Caesar) all point out flaws with the NCR. Caesar, however, has the most interesting take on the NCR. Now, I'm not saying I agree with Caesar about literally anything aside from what he says about the NCR, because, of all the characters in the game, he has the most well-thought-out critique of the NCR:

Do you want my opinion as a former citizen, or future conqueror? {shrug} Actually, my opinion's the same either way. As a young man I was taught to venerate {mocking slightly}President Tandi of Shady Sands. "The Founding Mother of the New California Republic." Did you know her Presidency lasted 52 years? And that her father, Aradesh, was the Republic's first President? Does that sound like democracy to you, or a hereditary dictatorship?

If the Courier points out that Tandi was, in fact, voted in to office every time, Caesar responds:

Because the council didn't dare oppose her. She was too popular. She had the people's love. So things ran smoothly, more or less. And as soon as she was gone, as soon as there really could be "democracy" - what happened then? Ever since losing its queen, the NCR has been weaker, more diffuse. Democracy has been its weakness, not its strength.

Finally, if the Courier asks how democracy is the NCR's weakness, Caesar says:

Greed runs rampant. The government is corrupt, accepting bribes from Brahmin barons and landowners, to the detriment of citizens. The NCR is a loose conglomerate of individuals looking out for themselves. It's lost virtue. No one cares about the collective, the greater good. It's not built to last. I'm just hastening the inevitable.

And the thing is, he's not wrong. Speak to Brahmin barons on the Strip, and they'll essentially tell you the same thing. NCR soldiers will complain about the lack of supplies. The Great Khans hate them because the NCR massacred their people at Bitter Springs (which none of the NCR characters particularly care to talk about). Kimball, the leader of the NCR forces, is a fucking dumbass who's military strategy is to amass all of his soldiers at a single point and he's so bad at managing things that he needs a fucking mailman to come in and save the day.

The NCR was running on borrowed time the moment Tandi died. The Fallout showrunners obviously played, and understood, New Vegas.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. In summary, the NCR sucks, Independent Vegas is the best ending, and New Vegas fucking rules.

[coockie8]

Sorry just remembered like over ten years ago my sister tried to play Oppression Olympics™ between Sasuke and Neji, claiming Sasuke's had a harder life and like yeah his entire family was killed and his brother made him watch it and that sucks.

Neji's family literally owns him.

Look I don't want to compare them or anything, and having to watch your family die is, objectively awful, but being actively kept as a slave by your own family is also an objectively awful thing lol

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker.

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[yavin42]

just finished the second season of black sails and i gotta say i understand why it makes queers go feral

[jacksprostate]

Before Project Mayhem, before fight club, before Marla, before Tyler — there is still one sad sack of shit.

.

.

The hard part about work trips isn't making the plane or seeing another family of five burnt into their leather seats. It's missing support groups.

See, if you're lucky, the company will send you out to a major city. Cities are great. A little advanced work to find a slightly below average church or library, you're set each night you're there.

It's a bit of novelty, getting to be a new face all at once. People assume you've just been diagnosed. It's never the failed treatments, the degradation of their life and everyone in it, the continuous experience of knowingly dying — none of those things are the worst thing that happens to you.

It's finding out they will.

So people cry. They crowd around, I sob like I've been told I've got stage four colon cancer and three weeks to live. We all cry. I sleep soundly on the plane back or in the nice, four star hotel my company provides me.

Flying out to a small town, though. I'll be awake enough to be hallucinating by the time I get back for Remaining Men Together. The only mercy is that the next time I show for all the groups I missed, I can see who thought I died. I get to be resurrected.

The other part about small towns, you have to take a second, shitter plane to a local airfield, or you have to take a rental car. One of the most popular rental cars available right now, it'll light itself on fire if you use the cruise control at the wrong time. I know this because I sat next to another guy with my job, who worked for a different company, and he said I'll show you mine if you show me yours. So I told him about the faulty airbags, and he told me about the overheating switch.

I prefer to avoid driving.

All the rental place at the airport has left for me, it's one of those flaming cars. I use cruise control. If I don't, one of my narcoleptic spells will send me into the Jersey barrier.

When you drive into these small towns, you have to try to pay attention, or you'll end up a county over talking about the wrong wreck. They're otherwise interchangeable, but the miles on your rental car won't line up and those are the type of records that might get pulled out when the company is finally sued for the big one ten years down the line.

As a result, I see the same decor on the way in every time. Meth lab. Abandoned homes. Garbage fire. Classic Americana. There is no four star hotel here; I sleep the same.

The only reason I've been brought out here is because the poor shithead who drove his truck into the ditch drunk was driving my company's flagship vehicle. It loses power steering if the car jostles the right way going above 55 miles per hour. I've been told to keep track of potential incidents and make sure the company can firmly claim it's not at fault.

We've had this problem for decades, and we will for many more. Sometimes, everything is falling apart.

The job is simple, and I only get tempted by the town's blatant opioid addiction for a day and night. Painkillers would probably make me sleep. The thing about being a recall campaign organizer, though, is like recognizes like. It's not only other Compliance and Liability guys who tell you company secrets while sharing the aisle in business class.

When I'm finally back in my own town, after my own support groups, after crying my eyes out into Bob's meaty middle — I pick up my mail. There's the newest IKEA magazine. Half of it looks like shit. The type of thing you'd only see in some curated art deco, modernist, post-modern traditionalist bohemian minimalist apartment.

I have to have it.

I go to sleep, hard, like God himself tucked me in. I sleep with my wallet net four hundred heavier, because even an IKEA spree tends not to outweigh a work trip. I sleep, with my called in IKEA goods only two short weeks away, my job well done, and I know, my life is complete.

[hecksupremechips]

To also go off of the point about cop!akihiko being annoying to me I gotta say that Akihiko as a character is very hit or miss with me because of how different adaptations of p3 will subtly alter his character. I felt like in portable with the femc route he comes off best, he’s a bit of a hothead with an obsession with fighting, but he’s overcompensating his strength so he doesn’t feel as weak and helpless as he’s been in many situations. He defines strength in a very literal sense, being physically strong and using that to protect others, but he’s lacking in emotional strength as a result. And in particular in this version I think he’s portrayed as a bit more goofy and sweet in a sense. He cares deeply for you as a friend and leader but he struggles with finding the words to describe how he feels. Hes kinda naive and gullible and has trouble noticing his surroundings. He has no clue what he’s doing but his heart is in the right place. I think he just comes off much more human and he has flaws, many many flaws, and that makes him all the more lovable

But then in other adaptations and spinoffs it’s like. They look at him through some hetero male bullshit filter and seem to view him as a lot more admirable and cool. Like in p3 dancing, theres literally an event where he’s talking with Junpei and Minato and they’re gushing about how perfect Akihiko is and how he doesn’t seem to have ANY flaws at all. And it becomes clear his inability to flirt with women just gets added as a way to make sure you, the Straight Male Player, don’t get insecure being next to such Perfection because at the end of the day, you’re still more charming and sexy than he will ever be because you’re better. It’s a “flaw” that’s only there to shield a sensitive male ego. And then in arena I mean, come on. He’s overly beefy and is a damn cop and travels the world and loves Protein™️ it’s his whole personality and he’s so clearly meant to be seen as hot but like, he’s just some shitty hetero male fantasy. Hes what the writers deem to be a Perfect Man that every guy wishes he could be, but don’t worry he’s still bad with women so you don’t gotta worry about him stealing your property- I mean, girlfriend!

And though I’ve not played reload and don’t really plan to anytime soon, judging from his social episodes they seem to have a similar problem. Akihiko comes off as a lot less approachable, like the year age gap is just too much of a barrier to get to know him properly. And he doesn’t have that dorky sweetness he has in portable, he’s just that perfect hetero male fantasy guy and don’t you fucking worry- he still has his protein powder with him

[half-a-hetero]

i honestly dont hate the ATLA adaptation but im definitely not entirely happy. when comparing it to the original they made a lot of the core ideas, arcs, conflicts, and characters kind of just….flat. and they also changed a lot of central motivations for characters and the things that made them so excellent, and misinterpreted a bunch of them, so yeah. some things were too rushed, and it all took away from a lot of the things that made atla such a meaningful show and a powerful teacher

that being said, it was kinda expected because they had to condense the whole thing into a few episodes, and ATLA is rly not a show for which you can do that easily, so i gotta cut them some slack. nothing will live up to the OG and thats that. BUT there were also some GREAT bits of acting in there PLZ can we talk about it because certain characters were captured really well (FOR THEIR ADAPTED SCENARIOS.) as well as great representation

i would honestly not mind a second season because it really was not all that bad as a show, independent of the original. it was engaging and had just enough humor and anger and sadness to be a well balanced show overall, i dont think its aim was to be a perfect recreation of the original

[tongues-and-teeth-and-reblogs]

I'm starting to question if y'all actually read the story or if you just come on here and post about it.

[mizmatched]

The way the pjo fandom treats nico diangelo makes me want to slam my face into a wall

[sparklecarehospital]

Carruni being separated might have been very very very slightly partially because of Doom just being petty and that is SO fucking funny

[dykedvonte]

If Ulysses has a million haters, then I'm one of them. If Ulysses has one hater, then I'm THAT ONE. If Ulysses has no haters, that means I'm dead. If the world is with Ulysses than I’m against the world.

[bijoumikhawal]

Personally I really don't think you can make the argument that Julian is ignorant of what Garak did in the Obsidian Order past season 2. The entire point of the Wire (which happens relatively early in their relationship) is about addicts deserving care and compassion regardless of what they've done, if they're a good patient or not, or why they're addicted. The episode concept rests on Julian knowing Garak has done horrible things.

Julian fully believes the first two lies Garak tells him until he contradicts himself and says by his side. Both implicate Garak in committing heinous acts in service to the state, acts which Julian morally objects to. Even if neither is true, after that point Julian knows for certain that Garak has done objectively horrible things, because the guilt and the anger and self loathing Garak is dealing with as a result of what he did is real even if the words he uses to say what happened aren't. Julian knows what Garak did.

Julian also knows Garak is not the same person anymore (very literally Garak does not have access to power, regardless of if his morals have changed) and has no reason to think he wants to be that person again (Julian is not privy to the full details of Garak's life until after the show is over and does not know about Tain's offer in The Die Is Cast, and therefore cannot be assumed to know the only way Garak can end his exile is through agreeing to enact violence in the name of Tain/Cardassia). Julian having an amicable relationship to Garak even though he's done heinous acts isn't necessarily hypocrisy, it can very well be him simply having faith that Garak has changed as a person from the time when he was an operative (I'll also admit it can be some of both). Julian is a deeply angry, moralistic, person and a deeply compassionate one, but he also has the belief that a person can change and that no one is fundamentally violent or beyond worthy of helping- frankly to his own detriment. IDK on Federation politics exactly but I wouldn't be suprised if Julian was in favor of rehabilitative justice as opposed to punitive, given that he was upset about his father going to jail even though he really doesn't care for him and kind of considers him a murderer. A part of rehabilitation is reintegration to society, ie having friends. Belief in RJ and acting in accordance with it isn't hypocrisy and is not naive- frankly, it's really difficult to do. Even though I understand why RJ is better, its something I personally struggle with, because I am a very angry, stubborn, moralistic person and this makes me very vengeance oriented. Julian has personally seen the scars that a Cardassian interrogation leaves on a person's body. He treated them the same day he met Garak. One of his closest friends has gone through it. Again, you can look at that and say it's hypocrisy, but I don't know if it is.

[badolmen]

Supermassive games made something that was almost perfect and then decided to make several much worse things before reeling it back to something decent that makes the same damn mistake the first game made without any of the first game’s charm and cleverness to make up for it. Like you’ve had the time to figure out this professional video game thing maybe you should start acting like it lol