#the quote from this panel that's like 'that's how it could have been anyway'

[matan4il]

hi quick question: what do u know about the lavender ai post that's circulating? i saw it on this fact checking blog i follow and they made it seem legit but im not convinced

Hi Nonnie!

Before I get into this specific subject, I just wanna tell you that for me personally, this war has been an eye opener about how little some "fact checking" sites are worth. I've read several articles on that type of site, which could have used some fact checking themselves. In some cases, they had author names attached to them, and when checking the authors out, it was easy to find that they were not free of bias themselves. So... yeah. Take "fact checking sites" with a grain of salt. Even journalists sometimes get it wrong, and they're held to higher standards, and have more personal accountability, than most "fact checking sites," not to mention that the latter often simply rely on a selection of journalistic sources, but sometimes without really taking into account which are reliable, and which aren't.

As for the lavender AI issue specifically, I heard it briefly referenced on the news, during a discussion panel, and it was brought up in the context of recent conspiracy theories about Israel. The panelists were so clear on how obviously false these all were, they didn't even really get into refuting any of them.

A bit like how, in the past, when watching panelists discussing antisemitic tropes reincarnated as anti-Israel lies, I saw them bring up the one claiming Israel set up a field hospital in Haiti after the earthquake in order to harvest organs, which is obviously a new version of "the Jews are bloodthirsty" without bothering to refute it, because to Israelis, it's evident that it's bullshit. Not only because we're aware that we're not actually those evil creatures, lusting for death and destruction, that the anti-Israel crowd likes to portray us as, but also because we know that the constant terrorist attacks here have made Israel a world leader in the field of emergency medicine (here's an example: even the antisemitic UN had to admit an IDF unit was the best medical emergency team in the world), so that's the actual reason we set up that field hospital, much like we use our experience to help others in basically every disaster around the world that's willing to accept aid from Israel (and sometimes we operate even in places like Syria, where technically, we're defined as an enemy state, so all of the aid had to be provided directly to private people, and while keeping their identity a secret, so their own government can't presecute them for receiving it).

Anyway, since the TV discussion didn't get into refuting what they clearly saw as an absurd, hateful lie, I went online in search of more info, and found that this news venturing into mainstream media happened in The Guardian, a British news source known for its anti-Israel bias, to the point where a female black, non-Jewish journalist of theirs felt the need to point it out all the way back in 2003, and in Nov 2023, a Jewish employee of theirs had published a personal piece about feeling unsafe there, and looking for another place of employment. But the source that The Guardian is quoting, is actually not a proper journalistic publication, it's an anti-Israel propaganda blog based magazine, which includes Israeli anti-Zionists and Palestinians, publishing in English since its audience is very much not Israelis despite claiming that they want to inspire change in Israel, and responsible for systematically vilifying the country and spreading lies about it.

If I, as an Israeli, thought that something was wrong with a system the IDF is using, and wanted to see real change in my army, I wouldn't go to a publication that isn't journalistic in nature, that doesn't publish in a local language, that most Israelis have never heard about, and that those who did, don't trust, because of its known anti-Israel reputation. That in itself makes me suspicious.

The IDF gave a statement in response to questions presented by The Guardian, based on the aforementioned piece. It's a bit long, but here are the main references to the claimed AI system Lavender (emphasis added by me):

Some of the claims portrayed in your questions are baseless in fact, while others reflect a flawed understanding of IDF directives and international law.

The process of identifying military targets in the IDF consists of various types of tools and methods, including information management tools, which are used in order to help the intelligence analysts to gather and optimally analyze the intelligence, obtained from a variety of sources. Contrary to claims, the IDF does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process. According to IDF directives, analysts must conduct independent examinations, in which they verify that the identified targets meet the relevant definitions in accordance with international law and additional restrictions stipulated in the IDF directives.

The “system” your questions refer to is not a system, but simply a database whose purpose is to cross-reference intelligence sources, in order to produce up-to-date layers of information on the military operatives of terrorist organizations. This is not a list of confirmed military operatives eligible to attack.

For each target, IDF procedures require conducting an individual assessment of the anticipated military advantage and collateral damage expected. Such assessments are not made categorically in relation to the approval of individual strikes. The assessment of the collateral damage expected from a strike is based on a variety of assessment methods and intelligence-gathering measures, in order to achieve the most accurate assessment possible, considering the relevant operational circumstances. The IDF does not carry out strikes when the expected collateral damage from the strike is excessive in relation to the military advantage. In accordance with the rules of international law, the assessment of the proportionality of a strike is conducted by the commanders on the basis of all the information available to them before the strike, and naturally not on the basis of its results in hindsight.

The IDF outright rejects the claim regarding any policy to kill tens of thousands of people in their homes.

Some things about the claims in that piece don't work out IMO. Like, the number of fatalities if indeed there's an AI system, which produced a list of 37,000 Hamas and PIJ terrorists, with an automatic green light to kill between 15 to 100 civilians per each, especially in the first months of the war, and even assuming they couldn't target them all during that period of time (we do know most Hamas units have been destroyed). There are about 1,500 terrorists in a Hamas battalion (source in Hebrew), and 4 are left in Rafah, so only about 6,000 Hamas terrorists are in the last area the IDF has not operated in yet. That would mean roughly 31,000 terrorists were accessible targets. Just for the sake of erring on the side of caution, let's assume 10 killed civilians per Hamas terrorist, instead of that piece's claimed 15-100 approved per target. This would produce somewhere around 341,000 people killed in the first months alone. Let's go even lower, let's say 5 civilians killed per terrorist instead of 15-100. That would mean 186,000 killed during those months. We are exactly 6 months into the war, and even Hamas' numbers (likely inflated) don't claim more than 33,000 as the total number of fatalities. The given numbers and directives in that so-called "article" just don't match the reality on the ground, but claim to explain it, and to prove that Israel is being callous with civilians' lives in Gaza.

I'll also add that the AI-based decision making described doesn't take into account the possible presence and harm to the lives of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. That's another thing that makes me doubt that piece, because the IDF commanders have repeatedly stated their commitment to bringing back all the hostages, and as many alive as possible, and Israeli soldiers more than once risked their own lives to get them out, whether it was living people, or the bodies of Israelis who deserve to get to be buried back home, with their loved ones there, as in tact as possible. This scenario only works if we assume the Israeli commanders and soldiers have no sentiment for the lives of their own kidnapped civilians.

I guess that's what the piece's aim is. To play on people's fears of AI determining whether people will live or die, and to paint Israel as an evil, unfeeling, bloodthirsty entity, capable of anything, including of the inhumanity of letting computers decide the fate of human beings. The ease and speed with which people believe this, and spread this notion, before anyone has verified that Lavender is anything other than a database, just like the IDF says, feels like a demonstration of how all antisemitic blood libels are spread.

I hope this helped!

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[transhawks]

saw a post of yours from awhile back wondering if horikoshi has read frankenstein & i’ve been waiting for someone to bring this up bc dabi is frankenstein’s monster. there’s the obvious evidence like how he’s drawn in tribute poses from the movies & he’s got stitches yknow. but also the whole thing with fire? in the original novel it wasn’t “grr fire bad” it was the monster learning that fire could hurt him but could also be used as a tool which he comes to appreciate. not to mention the monster’s main character motivation being he’s going on an angry rampage bc his creator (in this case endeavor) rejected & abandoned him bc he was a “failure”. the parallels are there you have got to believe me

So I've been a "Frankenstein, and I do mean the book not the movies, influenced BNHA" truther for years. I think what should be debated is whether Horikoshi read the original or not, and how much Ito's 2018 adaptation influenced the manga. I personally think if not the book, what he did read was Junji Ito's adaptation of it. Apparently Ito's manga is a very faithful adaption, which means a lot of the really amazing lines Shelley wrote and themes are in there, and I personally think they fit it better than the Universal Pictures attempt at Frankenstein, which was kind of a "low-brow" adaptation of Shelley's work. Horikoshi has long been a Junji Ito fan - our first panel of Tomura at USJ is an Ito homage, and I've spoken at length about how Hawks's mother is another shoutout to the great master of Horror manga, being named for one of his most popular characters.

So, yeah, I think you can see the influence pretty clearly. I have a franken!dabi one-shot somewhere because I felt the influence way back when I got into this manga years ago, and I think it still holds up. I'm just not sure if we can say he hasn't read the original even outside this adaptation, because as far as I know, it's a fairly popular book in Japan as well and the first Japanese translation came out in 1953. Anyway, this is making me feel guilty about not working on my league meta where I essentially partition the entire meta with Frankenstein quotes.... Have one last Frankenstein panel with a parallel.

[azumasoroshi]

minidura chapter 4 react

simon i SWEAR ill get you out of there and that horrendous art style

also though. TEENAGE SHIZAYA CHAPTER LETS GO???? idk if narita made the minidura or if it's a separate illustrator but they are giving the FOOD rn

i was wondering where the official knowledge that simon forced izaya and shizuo to eat sushi together came from. i mean i guess this isnt official and it was probably stated in the anime somewhere but still, good to see it illustrated pff

AAAAAAAAA ive seen this image around tumblr but i didnt realize it was from minidura 😭 i thought it was fanart or smth (<-dumbass)

wait im actually going crazy over this akwjhkjdshs they're washing dishes together!!! now we just need them to do laundry and taxes and-

im going to go over the image limit this time on god

wow cant believe they're bathing each other too (<-delusional)

something about the first shizuo panel reminds me of aggretsuko. which is. actually. huh. arent they both like adults with anger issues. durarara aggretsuko au when

also deadass i forgot dennis existed until i read about him in a shizaya fanfiction and i was like "who's dennis" pfgfkhkd

so true though never throw kitchen knives kids

LMFAO HE JUST GAVE THEM MORE WORK INSTEAD OF RESPONDING

they're gonna be here all day at this rate. actually shizaya as fast food/restaurant staff au when because they'd have the stupidest rivalry known to man and i need it

fucking imagine shinra walks in and sees shizuo and izaya working by the counter

i hope izaya gets to eat fatty tuna by the end of this though. god knows he's gonna look cute as hell

made funnier by the fact that izaya at least definitely knows how to cook with how long he's been on his own and needed to feed his sisters

damn ive actually never seen someone's vein burst in a way where blood sprays out in anime akshGKJHJKSD thats impressive actually

dont look now but this may or may not inspire me to make a mermaid/pirate au (<-obsessed)

who needs kaiju battles when you can have blue fin tuna vs crab

they're literally never leaving this place bro they're gonna be stuck here for eternity. anyway here's a literary analysis of durarara pointing out why russia sushi is actually representative of dante's inferno /j

i want to read those blurbs so baddddd screams sobs bangs table

rip dennis dude he doesnt get paid enough to deal with shizaya

rippp time to listen to izaya pine hopelessly for the man he cant stop annoying for five seconds

simon had the right idea. too bad shizaya are shizaya

what is that face izaya. i cant tell if he's irritated that simon's right or irritated that simon cant understand how instinctual their hatred is or amused that simon thinks he and shizuo could be friends or amused because he thinks meaningless fighting is hilarious

oh......that kind of hurts actually

i can imagine izaya suggesting it as a joke and then lying in bed that night thinking about how it's never going to happen and it really sounds like a funny joke huh? (he is not crying)

i cant believe simon's been dealing with these bitches for like 7 years now like dude has the patience of a saint

😭give him his 50,000 yen simon

we can see that the crack in the sign is actually fixed now too ahhh time really flies when you're stuck in a relationship of mutual hatred

chibizaya is so cuteeeeeeeee

im sure he intended to paint himself that way in his recollection though pff

THATS RIGHT SHIZAYA BE THE PORCUPINES. SNUGGLE. DO IT

step aside erika, simon is the face of the shizaya nation now. especially with that "you just have a shizuo complex dont you" quote that i found the other day which i still havent recovered from

HAUDGHUSDH orihara izaya, pro unreliable narrator

hilarious how we never see tom's face. just his dreads lmfao

dennis and simon are so done with like izaya bro i think they can tell at this point that he's horrifically pining and has no healthy outlet for it. the bills go to him because they're bullying him

it'd be funny if they billed him 50,000 at the end actually pft

I KNEW WE'D GET THEM EATING TOGETHER!!! I HAD FAITH

they're so cute oh my god can i make that my header or something

10/10 chapter im going to punt izaya into a wall and get simon flowers

[dalesramblingsblog]

(Put into its own post because I have a chronic fear of hijacking things with reblog chains. Some Tumblr user I turned out to be... Anyway credit obv to @gen-is-gone)

But yeah this is pretty much where I come down on the matter as well. In writing about the books featuring Sam, and occasionally being critical of how her character has been handled, I have tried to be very careful not to frame it as some kind of objection to the character on a fundamental level, but rather to some egregiously poor decisions made by certain authors.

There are two reasons for this, the first of which is that I am, as critics go, a bit of a quietly staunch anti-Watsonian who has never once invested too much in the idea that art needs to be treated as, to use a possibly apocryphal Gayatri Spivak quotation, "gossip about imaginary people." Sam Jones doesn't need to be real to be meaningful.

But more importantly, as you say, I do want to be mindful of the long and not-so-distinguished tradition of male fans constantly putting Sam down because "unrelatable" or "unlikable" or "too politically correct" or whatever. Dale's Ramblings has always been kind of tacitly influenced by my growing up as a terminally online young autistic white boy of the sort who, if we're being perfectly frank, could have very easily spiralled down exactly that sort of right-wing echo chamber if things had turned out slightly differently.

So again, I do try to be mindful of the optics of my reviews, which I don't say to big myself up because I do think that it really is the bare minimum in a situation like mine. But y'know, point is, whatever my issues with how the overwhelmingly male crop of writers that defined Wilderness Years Doctor Who incorporated Sam into their novels, I never want to take anything away from the people for whom the character really resonated.

Because at a certain point in shitting on a book for having "poorly written female characters" or whatever as a man you're just going to end up in the same position as those male nerds who got huffy when ComicCon did a Twilight panel, where the boundaries between "OK you're making legitimate critiques of an author's decisions" and "Bro you might just hate women a little bit (read: a lot), it's OK we can wean you off of watching Nerdrotic, I know a great rehab program" start to blur and outright dissolve.

Or y'know, again, to quote myself in a TL;DR because sometimes I do actually write things that are halfway decent:

(Oh and also yeah I look forward to Seeing I immensely, if only because it's the only thing keeping me going through the looming spectre of Longest Day and Legacy of the Daleks, god the 1998 crop of EDAs is... not the most promising, with one or two notable exceptions. Of which Seeing I is one.)

[shinesurge]

I'm sitting around waiting for our car to get serviced so I'm gonna take a minute to write a post I've been chewing on for a little bit lol

I think! A lot of creators talk about 'word of mouth' being the best advertising and it's TRUE they are right but I'm not sure the actual like, function of that is getting across because people still get confused about it when I bring it up, and I keep seeing people frustrated that their efforts aren't working (notably in spaces like the obscure webcomic tournament). Recommending stuff to your friends or writing stuff in to promotional spaces DEFINITELY helps don't stop doing that, but what people ACTUALLY mean by this is getting Visibly Excited about things in spaces where it can break containment.

Fandom content is what gets people into things!! Like, think about everything that "takes off" online; it's not because people post the plot synopsis over and over, or go "please read this it's good," the stuff that actually gets people engaging is seeing some cool fan work or clipped out content and going what the FUCK is that. The Barbie movie probably would have done fine on its own, but the insane phenomenon it's become certainly wouldn't have happened if regular internet users hadn't memed it to hell and back; this stuff works.

I didn't give a SHIT about Persona 5, or The Magnus Archives, or The Adventure Zone or any number of things I got dragged into until I saw fandom content for them. Persona 5 sounds like boring as fuck anime shit on paper, I do NOT care about podcasts, but people kept drawing the COOLEST stuff for them or posting insane fan theories until I HAD to know what was going on. That's what we're talking about with word of mouth! Sincere engagement with the thing is better than any advertising could ever be.

It doesn't have to be creative art or writing either! Make Character Appreciation Posts using the source material! Make an essay-length analysis of the story's themes! Set up a weekly post about how much you love a character or a count of how many days it's been since someone showed up, do Incorrect Quotes or paste tumblr text posts over characters, idk man there's entire blogs dedicated to posting every One Piece panel that has certain characters in it, there are no rules

What I'm saying is if you're wanting to help out smaller creators, please get involved, and PLEASE do it outside insulated places like discord servers. A thriving community that only exists inside a closed server still looks like a ghost town from the outside. "please read this it's got lesbians" helps get something on the radar, making a compilation post of the lesbians and posting it with a link to The Thing gets people's attention.

anyway that's all thanks @ Fans Of All Kinds for caring enough to want to help out independent people to the point i felt like it was worth making a post like this; to be clear, nobody is owed any of this stuff and you're certainly not obligated to put in all this effort to enjoy a thing! but i know a LOT of people are enthusiastic about indie media and want to help out, and sometimes a little extra guidance from the creator perspective helps them figure out how to do that effectively. love you have a good day

[canonicallysoulmates]

Jared Sunday Solo Panel JIB11

He is looking so handsome! He says he finally got some sleep, that last night the group had gone out to dinner but he was too tired so he decided to stay and get some rest so he's feeling much better this morning.

Funniest Walker scene to shoot? He has a lot of fun on that show, and he tries to make people laugh and keep the energy kind of light. There's a scene where they kind of introduce Cassie's character and during the scene he did something and heard the director and a few people in the video village start laughing, it was the bit where they're in Captain James office and Cassie says she doesn't control speed bumps and he looked at her and moved his chair away from her. So just kinda bits where Walker who is this heroic guy is kind of acting childish makes him laugh a lot. They have a good time, they say it's not a comedy but they hope people laugh. x

Is he going to be reunited with Matt Barr on Walker? He teases that we might see Matt again 👀👀👀👀 Says he loves Matt and that they're hanging out this summer as well, he's (Matt) getting married. x

Was it a stunt double during the part of the horse race for the ranch where Cordell's saddle snaps? He does a lot of the horse stuff but that was a stunt double. Chad Dashnaw his stunt double and stunt coordinator was the one to do it but Jared wanted to learn to do it so he offered to teach him how to do it; says he does a lot of the horse riding but the stunts he wanted to do it but because of insurance purposes they probably wouldn't have let him do it anyways in case something happened to his knee.

Was there ever a stunt that he has seen his stunt double do and he's been so grateful for having a stunt double, or vice versa that he's seen them do and wanted to do it? In Walker specifically the car crashes scare him cause imost of the stunts even though they look great on camera you kinda know what's about to happen, it's a dance. The stunt on Walker Independence, the one where his character drops from the horse, that looked like it hurt and he could see it in Chad's face but he did it again he thinks maybe two more times. But in general car accidents because you don't know what's gonna happen. They hope for the best, hope it goes where they want it and it never does they've had a few cars flips and thos- they have roll cages and all that but still he wouldn't want to be in that car, and they take all the combustible stuff out so it can't get punctured and blow up for real. He thinks it's also becasue of his car accident in April that he might have some PTSD when it comes to scenes like that 😭. x

He tends to sit a little differently on chairs, has he ever fallen off one on stage? On stage he hopes not, he can't think of when but he thinks it's just cozier for him to sit the way he does. x

What are three things he would take on a dessert island? He would want to read so he guesses he would take an Ipad so he could download a bunch of books, the crowd starts to chuckle and he's confused as to why until they point out he would need a charger so he says he would take two chargers 😆 He would take a solar charger and something to cook, pictures of loved ones, books, a charger and something to charge the charger with- he needs to think about it🤣 x

What would he advise to cope with the feeling of emptiness that comes when something you've been waiting for so long ends? There's a quote that he doesn't remember exactly but it's something like "don't be sad it ended be happy it happened". And they get a little sad too when the cons are over but the memories are still around so think of all the fun stuff you got to, and new friend that you've made. x

Was it on purpose to leave things open with his character on Walker Independence? And if there's someone walking around looking so much like Cordell surely he must be in Abby's family tree somewhere, is that something they tought about at all? They did think about it, they didn't know how incestous they wanted to be 😂

He does hope to be on Walker Independence again, that is the plan. x

When someone is possessed by a demon, and other didn't know, and he should get an anti possession tattoo what would happen? He thinks you have to trap the demon and exorcise it, ideally if you care about the person you don't wanna just stab them. x

Which version of Sam was the most challenging to play and which one was the most fun to play? He thinks soulless!Sam was the most fun for him to play but it was also the most daunting one for him to figure out what he was going to do cause it had never been done on the show. Most challenging would be Gadreel-Ezekiel because he had to do the transitions within a scene, soulless Sam was soulless from action to cut whereas when he was Sam and then he'd bust into angel form it was something different that he hadn't really done, he didn't know how it was gonna happen, and he hadn't seen the visual effects yet to know that he'd have some help but that it was a lot of fun. x

Does he have any intel he could share about wether the CW is going to continue with scripted tv and if not does he have alternate plans about other platforms he could use? He doesn't know. The new leadership of the CW has announced that it's kind of changing directions he doesn't know what that direction will be; he's been proud to be with CW since day one, he and Jensen pre-dated the CW so it's been an honor to call the CW his home for the last 17yrs. If he was born a couple hundred years ago he'd be the court jester is he doesn't make the King laugh off with his head so he's grateful to have lived the life he's lived and meet the friends he's met, and travelled the places he's travelled by playing pretend, it's a blessing and he's grateful for it everyday. So if the CW does go a different direction and thinks it's no longer the home for a show like Walker and Walker Independence they do have other options. But that's up to the CW it'd be an honor to keep calling it home, that he's been the only person whose been number one on the call sheet of a CW show every time there's a new episode airing every week for 17yrs so he'd love that to carry on, that it'd be an honor.

And he has talked to some of the new people at the CW, and talked to long time friends who are no longer at the CW and they say the people who replaced us are wonderful and kind and they really want this to work and they want it to be profitable so that it makes sense. That it is anxiety inducing but whatever happens happens. x

Is there something he can share about the SPN Christmas episode?He loved the episode and he remembers filming it,and of course spiking Jensen eggnog, that they had a great time. He thinks they shot it around October, which around October in Van is possibly his favorite time of year in any city he's ever been to, it starts to get into fall, and there's a smell in the air and the city's so beautiful so it felt kind Christmas-y because it was cooler and it's kind of like this great holiday feeling while shooting which doesn't happen often so that was nice. They had a good time, and s3 was a strange time for them as well because they were starting to introduce characters that didn't ultimately stay or in the case of one character they stayed but in a different body, so it felt markedly different than seasons 1 and 2. And it was nice, it felt like they were finding their groove, seasons 1 they didn't know what the show was gonna be yet and season 2 they kinda added some characters and they were still trying to figure out what was working and what wasn't, and where they were gonna go with the show if it kept going.

There were a few things that happen in a third season back in the day, you would kinda go if a show has gone on for three seasons and it's staying strong then it makes sense that it'll go on for a fourth and so there was a feeling of confidence that they could go like 'all right, well we must be doing something right and hopefully they want us to keep doing it'. It was a good time in his life. x

Jared's Sunday Solo Panel JIB11

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 231 (spoiler)

We start by getting the explanation on why Gojo's punches are so devastating. We heard from Uraume about it the first time and now we get the confirmation that it really is a special punch laced with Blue.

Maki, Panda and Yuji all say that they punched their sensei and Inumaki is squeezed right between the other three to signal to the reader that he's a teacher puncher as well.

But only Yuta and Hakari were the unlucky ones to get punched by Gojo. Maki isn't with these boys on this side of getting punched because pre Gojo's sealing she hadn't been on their level yet. So remember, if you're a really strong student you get punched by Gojo.

Nanami flashback + Ino sadness. We're all him in this moment. Also, Kusakabe, we had never an idea on what Gojo would be doing anyway other than trying to rescue Megumi.

Get that bitch! Honestly, my love for Sukuna cooled a bit down after he possessed Megumi and I think it will stay on that lower level until the end when we find out what will happen with Megumi. I can accept a bad ending for him but I hope for a good one.

And because there are some people who seriously believe that Megumi is dead in the narrative (saw this on Twitter and YouTube), sorry but what manga are you reading? Megumi's story is not over yet and a blind grandma could tell you that. Yes, some characters have to reach rock bottom first before they can rise again. And Megumi's rise will be spectacular.

Kagebunshin no jutsu.

After we got Yorozu's quote for a second time in the last chapter, I expected a bit more on that front in this one. But my perspective was probably a bit screwed here. This chapter had an amazing fight with the addition of new stakes and that is probably what Sukuna would understand about love. Or to be more precise: we have gotten to the "lonely" part of her quote (he has now found someone on his level) and the love part will probably come when the fight reaches it's end. Additionally, Sukuna's perspective has been really limited until now, so that might get a spotlight later on (hopefully not so late though.)

Sukuna also has some beautiful panels this time. I even saw Megumi in him here and there

Last chapter, we saw Gojo defeated after he couldn't expand UV but then his own strength got reaffirmed when Sukuna's DE broke down. This chapter he's as joyful as in the beginning with the clear belief that he will win.

It's really interesting how you can damage specific parts of the brain to hinder specific abilities from being utilized. You need the Barrier Techniques for a DE but not for a Domain Amplification.

That last panel of Sukuna is also so quintessentially Sukuna it's not even a joke. How Gege manages to portray a different character in the body of another without actually changing things like the facial structure is unbelievable. His eyes with the double iris too, shows us Sukuna in all his glory.

As we see in the top right panel, it's now Gojo's time to go and Sukuna's to take a backseat. The next chapter will be him beating on Sukuna relentlessly. (Before it'll be Sukuna's turn again.)

On the wheel: I always said that unlimited adaptation would be overpowered as an ability but until now my thinking on limiting it was the amount of adaptations Mahoraga was able to do. My theory in the past was that Mahoraga's limit would be eight because of the eight nobs on the wheel, then the first adaptation would be overriden by a new one. Now we learn that Gege went a different route to depower Maho: by having the wheel turn multiple times to adapt to different kinds of techniques.

The more powerful a technique, the more turns it needs. UV needed 5 apparently, that's why Sukuna put Megumi through the adaptations as often as he did. Limitless needs 4.

It's a little frustrating though that we didn't get a better explanation on how Sukuna made Megumi shoulder the adaptation in the first place. "I used the 10 Shadows" is way too vague. For everyone interested in my theory on this and a succinct battle analysis for round 1 of this fight, here's my newest post on the matter.

Gojo has some wild and funny expressions this chapter which brings the fun back into this fight. And is it just me, or do others miss blindfold Gojo as well?

Now that we have a time limit (the adaptation itself also takes time, no 0.001 second adaptations here) next few chapters are bound to be intense. And if Gojo doesn't manage to defeat Sukuna until then, then the King of Curses will have adapted to Gojo's ultimate attack and ultimate defense 👀

My prediction: Gojo will temporarily defeat Sukuna, that was always his plan, then he will try to separate him from Megumi, maybe with the help of the others, but even with the best precautions, Sukuna will rise back from the dead before they can save Megumi. Then shit will hit the fan.

Maybe we'll get a (one-sided) Sukuna/Megumi interaction as well.

[ledalausnows]

i’ve found the first issue of echoes of fear quite interesting and wanted to compile my thoughts somewhere for the future, so here goes :)

yeah, you might want to start with someone you know quite well….

welcome back infinity gate of the kwa, which is called ‘gateway of tantellus’ now, for some reason. first mention of it in canon as far as i can find. not sure why they keep reinventing things instead of capitalising on existing stories that would garner more excitement. anyway. moving on,

ravi’s forces are all masked, just like the nihil. probably just a creative choice to show the militant nature, but i still found it interesting.

this whole section is very interesting. ravi’s beset by visions due to the proximity to the echo stone, ones where he’s part of continuous battles, ending with one against himself.

Awful visions flashed before his eyes, things he could not understand, cast in a sickly purple light. Jedi, many he knew, friends and colleagues, horribly mutilated, fighting battles they could not win against awful things that lived in the dark. Things that lived in the deep.

(…) Images flashing past his stinging eyes like purple lightning.

purple, like the glow of the rod and the nameless egg (per path of deceit). pretty obvious connection for a while now. ‘there was one who would never fall. one whom he could never defeat’ connection to ‘fighting battles they could not win’, but also the fact the last battle is against himself - reminds me of ‘he saw jedi dying, screaming, and himself last of all, unable to escape what was coming’. if you really want to stretch it you could connect it to the nameless encounter in totf - where the fight was as much against elzar himself and his fear as the creature.

this is a stretch and i don’t believe it is exactly related, but i found it interesting considering elzar’s vision is described as ‘some sort of warning’. if the visions are due to the echo stone, that could track.

we know the nameless have a similar ability - visions, hallucinations - and judging by their purple glowy chests, i’ve always assumed they have some sort of matching stone imbued into their bodies; naturally or otherwise. but that’s speculation on my part. at the end of the day i don’t believe we have anything suggesting the stone or the nameless have been anywhere near starlight at all at that time? perhaps it was the force seeking protection after all. (though, i feel like it’s important to mention, the mother claims to have received a vision of the nameless as well: ‘“this creature is called the leveler,” the mother said. “i saw it in a vision from the force, but i did not know if it was a true vision or just my heart’s wish.”’ which draws a potentially very interesting line between elzar and elecia, and whether what he saw wasn’t all ‘ the future’, but that’s neither here nor there.)

related to their weird glowy cores, i assume.

this i find VERY interesting. neither elecia nor marda nor marchion have very pure intents at all. (though we know marchion uses his ‘will’ to influence the rod: ‘his feet dug into the ground, and he paused, focused the strength of his will onto the rod, and dragged the two nameless in with him’) perhaps they’re being negatively affected by it as well, just much more slowly? could a jedi wielding the rod somehow null the effects, or succeed in some way? which leads me to the next quote:

i’m pretty confident that unless they choose the cough, lamer option of a revolt or betrayal, this is how marchion is going to die. what i’m not confident in is the timeline; the stone is said to have been reduced to ash, and regardless if the quest of the jedi comic happens before or after this, we know it’s just not true. the rod exists. oversight, or someone is lying.

this panel and those to follow are from the quest of the jedi one-shot.

sounds a lot like the effect of the nameless and the blight, if you ask me, though it’s borne of the dark side being pulled on by the crystal. could be another side effect or aspect to the connection between all those things. there’s seems to be a relationship to all three (the stone, the nameless and the blight) that to me points out to the same environment origin (planet x, i suppose, though i have not reread the media that talks about it so i’m mostly going off of my memory).

again, i have lots of gaps in memory so don’t take this as anything more than musings, but my first thought is that, given the stone pulls on all of the force - light and dark - it could connect to why the only person able to wield the stone can be that of ‘pure intent’ - perhaps the stone is capable of creation as much as destruction, if used and channeled for the right purpose (or with the right intent, you could say. we know the stone amplifies ones strength and connection with the force. perhaps some of the nameless effects can be undone in this manner?) the people of the island became de-facto possessed by the stone because of the long time spend in tune with it - again, perhaps the moderation of a jedi using it could prevent that.

rather loose connection here but i found it interesting nonetheless. elzar’s second vision comes while he’s quite literally drowning, but even more so it reminds me of the quote from eye of darkness:

It had been a turbulent night, fueled by dreams of drowning (…) he’d been sinking into the blackening waters of the Force, chilled and desperate, enclosed from all sides by the thickening darkness.

In his dreams, though, he’d been thrashing around, unable to find his way as he was slowly, inexorably dragged deeper and deeper into the fathomless murk. Farther away from the light. From clarity. Such dreams had plagued him for months.

He had even tried reaching out to others at the Temple for their guidance. (…) Elzar knew that they didn’t really understand. They couldn’t. They believed his dreams were simply a manifestation of his grief (…) But it was more than that.

i guess it bares saying the visual language could be due to, well, water being his whole thing, but still. i think it’s quite a fun connection regardless.

tumblr decided to delete this whole section, so i’m going to try to type what i remember, lol. thanks to the dark side, the stone has put the people of the island into a thrall-like state, similarly to how we see the rod used on the nameless. but we also see that is not entirely fool proof - there’s moments in temptation where the creatures disobey, in fear of the blight, if i remember right. either that’s simply a narrative choice to show us the scope of the blight issue - or whatever it is that’s guiding it is strong enough to disrupt the rod’s output. perhaps it’s like a chain - a massive output could stop the blight, as well: the jedi. but at this point in the story i think most of us suspect avar will be pulling off her biggest bluetooth moment yet for this exact reason, so there’s no need for me to dwell on that further. we all get the gist.

anyway. that’s ‘all’. mostly speculations and wishful thinking, but i want to see how it holds up with next issues. if you read it all…..thanks :)

[dyed-red]

Bribing Votes Ficlet Fills

@soulmates-for-real voted for priest!sam hair in this pivotal poll and prompted:

This is a J2 non AU prompt. They had a showdown, their only big fight during filming, way back in S1. Apparently, they exchanged heated words, there was a bit of shoving and Jared stormed off to his trailer. Jensen cooled down a bit and went in search of him and found him in the trailer shedding tears. They had a talk and hugged it out. I'm quoting from what I remember from Jensen's answer in a con panel.

It could be romantic or platonic, anything is fine

Completing with a non-platonic fill :) Remember folks: you’ve got about 8hours* to vote, get in my inbox, and get a mini ficlet fill

*fair warning i’ll be asleep for a lot of those 8 so any subsequent prompters may have to wait till tomorrow for their fills

--

Jared wouldn’t know discretion if it smacked him in the face.

That’s what Jensen’s thinking, anyway, when Jared keeps cracking jokes between takes, ones that skirt way too close to the truth of what went down on the weekend, complete with knowing smirks just for Jensen. It was funny the first time, but the shoot’s been running long, it’s an outside one and the temperate is dropping because that’s what Canada is like, and he wants to focus up and get this scene done before his balls freeze off, or more likely shrivel inside him and die a slow and icy death.

It was funny the first time, but the fourth has Jensen shooting him glares, and Jared doesn’t know how to back down from a challenge either, or else he thinks it’s funny, or what, but either way he waits until the cameras are on Jensen and he’s delivering a line and then sneaks in a quick motion with his thumb jerked to the side in front of his mouth and his tongue pressing on his cheek from the inside of his mouth, blowjob joke designed to make him crack.

And it does.

“Can I talk to you?” he snaps and doesn’t wait for an answer before marching off to the side, the ‘okay take 5′ and ‘guys?’ of the head P.A. and Kim, their director, both trailing, with other staff already moving into to reset the scene. Jensen ignores that and the rest, heat in his ribs and stomach, fingers sore from the cold and from keeping from clenching.

“Jensen? Jen - Ackles - c’mon, wait up, what - ?”

It’s as good a place as any, as close to privacy as exists on a film set and no one in direct earshot and he spins on his heel, looks up -- up, because the guy’s a freaking giant and Jensen’s never getting over how stupid tall he is -- and snaps with a,

“What the hell are you even doing here man?”

The problem with Jared is he’s a goddamn puppy dog, so he gets this look on his face all genuinely hurt like he got smacked on the nose with a newspaper and it just pisses him off further.

“They don’t need you back on set until I’m done this section so what are you even -- are you just out here to fuck with me?”

“Fuck with you?” Jared’s nostrils flare, reeling back now, and he takes the offense. It’s a relief, really, free license for Jensen’s chest to get hot and shoulders to set wide with all the fight he’s had raring to go for the last half hour or more. “I’m just joking around, man, the same as we always - “

“Not the same as we always you, you asshole. What the fuck is your problem?”

“We joked about this shit all the time before -- what, you can suck my dick but can’t take a joke about it?” 

Jensen rears back and his arm twitches and Jared’s whole body gets tense and Jensen doesn’t, wouldn’t, but he’s not above shoving the guy and -

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Are you?” Jared shoves him back, three times as hard. And maybe he’s channeling Dean still because his body’s primed for a fight and he almost wants to punch him. He’s not that stupid, not about to fuck up his co-lead’s face but blood is pounding in his ears and he gets into Jared’s space, close enough to hiss,

“You know what you are, Jared?”

Jared pushes him back. “What am I? Come on - what am I?”

Thinks Jensen’s about to go for the easy blow, the one that sinks him all the same but what comes out -- loud, louder than he intended, and a lot more anger in it -- is, “You are goddamn unprofessional, is what.”

--

“We got it!”

Jensen’s shoulders sag. If there’s one thing fighting is good for, it’s focus. He can take all that bullshit and get it into a scene and it works, worked in this case, and they’re only marginally more behind schedule than they were before.

Jared disappearing off to his trailer might have something to do with it.

It pisses Jensen off, the fact that thinking about that sent a fucked up pang of guilt through his stomach. Jared was the one out of line and if he’s gonna be a baby about it -

“Hey Cilla, can you go and grab Jared, we’ll be ready for him in ten. They might need to do some retouches so grab Ashley from makeup on your way back.”

“Don’t worry about Jared,” Jensen hears himself saying to Kim, resigned to it even as it’s coming out his mouth. “I got it.”

He gets a Look over it, since their little display didn’t exactly go unnoticed. As far as he can tell, no one heard what Jared insinuated because Jared’s not actually unprofessional enough to fuck up like that, but they sure as hell caught Jensen’s shout, and Jared’s snarled ‘go fuck yourself’ before disappearing off to his trailer.

But Kim’s a professional guy, good head on his shoulders and even better head for the industry and he gives Jensen a level look then nods, says thanks, and turns his attention elsewhere. Discrete guy too. Unlike Jared.

Jensen’s rubbing his forehead all the way back to the guy’s trailer, not even sure where he’s gonna start. Damage control, maybe. Or if Jared’s gonna be a dick about it then cold, if he’s gotta be, and -

He knocks twice, knuckle rap on the door, and lets himself in without waiting for an answer. It’s halfway out Jared’s mouth when he steps inside, a half-shout “gimme a minu - ...” toward the door.

Shit.

Jensen freezes. Jared freezes.

Jared’s crying.

“Fuck, sorry, one sec, I - “ he’s on his feet, wiping at his face and spinning on his heel all in one motion and Jensen closes the door behind him, embarrassed on Jared’s behalf. Embarrassed for himself, too. Jesus.

Jensen’s politely looking at the mini-fridge with the stupid endearing Texas fridge magnet Jared’s mom sent him. Jared breathes for a sec, then there’s a strangled sort of laugh. 

“Ashley’s gonna kick my ass.”

It startles a laugh of out Jensen too. Ashley from makeup is definitely not going to be too stoked about whatever Jared’s crying has done to mess up his face for the rest of the scene. “Or mine.”

A pause, a sigh. “Not your fault.”

Jensen tentatively looks over. It’s not, not really. Jared was being a dick. The question he’s struggling with is -

“You know why that wasn’t cool?”

“You know I wasn’t -- it’s not like I was trying to be homophobic.”

Jensen’s face screws up. Is that what Jared thinks he thinks?

“What’d’you even - no, man, with the - “ He makes a vague hand motion. “It’s like you want people to talk.”

Jared’s eyebrows climb. “Talk? What, you think people are gonna know we fooled around because I made a joke about sucking dick?”

“Obviously not but - “

“We’ve been making jokes like that since day 1! Hell, you keep telling people I’m too hot to play your brother on TV - “

“Once, Jared. I said that once. And immediately felt like an idiot.”

Jared looks, for whatever stupid reason, hurt by that. Jensen shifts restlessly on his feet, sighs, not sure what the hell to say to fix this.

“Look, man. People are - waiting for us. Counting on us. We need to figure this shit out.”

“You think I don’t know that? Why do you think I was trying to keep up the mood on set earlier when you started acting all pissed off? You snapped at like, three PAs - “

“Because you kept joking about fucking and then smirking at me - “

Jared bites the inside of his cheek, Jensen can see it, and shakes his head.

“Seriously,” Jensen forges ahead, “this shit is dangerous. You know that, right? I know you do. Would it kill you to have some discretion.”

Jared looks mad and also like he’s gonna cry again, which is just - bad - but he sniffs and shakes his head and there’s a half-second there where he looks like Sam, not like Jared, and then he blinks and it’s gone and his voice comes out like his own, not like his character’s, when he says,

“This is me being discrete.”

Jensen’s gonna kill him. Both of them, maybe. Death by Canadian ball-freezing.

“If I stopped joking about it now, wouldn’t that look weirder? You think I wanna act like I have something to hide? I’m not good with -- I’m an open book, Jensen. I know how to be discrete, I do, but this is how I do it. I hide in plain sight. No guy in his right mind would suck his friend’s dick on Saturday then show up at work and joke about sucking it in front of 50 people, right?”

His eyebrows climb. It sets something -- off edge, on edge. His shoulders relax but his stomach clenches, anger sliding into nervousness instead. Fuck.

“You...” He trails off, not sure how to say it. Jensen doesn’t know, is the thing, what this means. They’re just fooling around. They were drunk, and it was stupid, and Jared is stupid hot, and his friend, and an easy flirt, and an even easier lay. Except not really, he couldn’t be, he’s been in the industry long enough and done enough projects with enough press that he’s not some idiot who’d let slip something that he shouldn’t, or who wouldn’t be careful about which costars he slipped into bed with.

“You’re right.” Jared sniffs, wipes his face another time with one of those big mitts he calls hands, calmer now. “We gotta get our shit together. Joking or not joking or doing or not doing -- whatever. None of that matters, not like - it’s fucking cold outside and there’s a few dozen people waiting for us and we’re...”

“Yeah,” Jensen says. He drags his hand up the back of his neck, darts a look at Jared then back at the floor. “Acting like we’re in some dick swinging contest.”

“Not the kind of dick swinging I wanna... sorry, too soon.”

Jensen snorts. “You’re an idiot.”

“Think that’s Sam’s line.”

It gets a real laugh of Jared and that’s something, at least.

“Let’s talk about this later. Proper talk. About -- I dunno, priorities, or whatever. Discretion. Expectations.”

“Maybe how to tell when you’re funny mad and actually mad?”

“Yeah, that too.”

They smile.

“That’s assuming Ashley doesn’t kill us.”

“Oh yeah. Come on, big man. She’s gonna need to fix you right.”

“Yeah.”

Jared follows him out, and Jensen pats him on the back, lets his hand linger on his shoulder as they walk together toward makeup. And they don’t hug it out now, but they do later, hours later, when the work is done for the day and things are easier.

[lastavenged]

KAREN + ADDICITION + SOBRIETY

I am probably gonna rewrite this post and go more specific with details for both 616 & mcu verses, but in general for both settings and Karens, and kind of wanna grab some panels and quotes from Karen about this topic.

Since one of things to kind of note first, is the like the wikis, the comics, and the show (and the show I even think s1 and s2 they didn't even plan or intend to cover her addiction which maybe wasn't necessary but has the effect of being like the comics) all act as though and treat this as something she was "cured" of which to be clear, is not a thing. There is no cure, there is recovering and battling and it's always something that she'd have been, and something that yes she could be sober and clean for years without any issue but that doesn't essentially equate to cured and.... that's a nuance that isn't really covered with Karen.

Anyways, as this stands experiences during the pit of her addiction include. Being suicidal, especially so in the comics, where she contemplates an attempt and walking out of a high story window. And it is something that she really felt amd said thar she lost her soul, sold it is specifically her words in the comics as she does sell daredevils identity for one fix. Karen's experienced homelessness as well doing the pit of addiction problems, this is another thing shown in the comics. Physical assault and implied sa as well. There's a lot of experiences from this time of her life that stick with her.

Now onto more the point of this post, and in the comics they do show, at least to some extent, her detoxing and becoming clean and sober. It's an uphill battle for her, and in general you can assume for her portrayal. That she does attend meetings some evenings, and we do at least in comics and in both novels, that her own addiction and associated demons, specifically lead her to wanting to be an advocate as well as specifically focus on helping people who are struggling with addiction themselves as well as those struggling with suicidal thoughts.

Now here is my own gripe with the show, is that none of this gets presented as part of Karen's character, until season 3 which kind of shoots karen a little in the foot, and it does kind of act as a bottle episode and gloss over that drinking was a larger issue for this karen; and kind of treats her addiction as cured, that's it.

Anyways, that is going go be more apparent here, as one of things she does is still attend meetings, she does work with support groups and volunteer opportunities, such as specifically like in the comics she opens a drug and suicide hotline that's paried with matt's free legal advice clinics.

In general, Karen is clean and mostly sober; as heroin was her specific fix. she only takes very specific medications and painkillers, if she were hospitalized she specifically requests not to be given morphine, and as for drinking, she keeps a social only two glass moderation with herself, so she can be tipsy and giggly, but mostly still has her wits, will remember the evening, and won't be hungover the next day. She additionally smoked cigarettes, nicotine, which in the comics there is an implied point in which she quits smoking as well, but picks it back up again (trial of karen in the comics; matt makes a note of that when he sees her again). It's to be noted that she does not originally quit cigarettes when first going sober/clean.

So all of that is being brought to both 616 and mcu, specifically bringing into mcu, is all of that. Specifically what sobriety/being clean looks like for Karen, and how it is quite important for her to help others of similar struggles to her own, and in general, relapse is a much trickier idea for how that applies to Karen given all of what factors into her "vices" for both 616 and mcu; I do not see a total relapse or relapse with specific drugs happening for her, but picking up smoking cigarettes again may be something that has evidently happened at least in 616, and maybe possibly mcu with smoking; since my mcu karen is in line of 616 on that, and mcu with drinking.

But in general, the point and idea, is that one of Karen's pillars is aa meetings or various support groups that she attends for herself, as well as working toward helping those of similar struggles and being an advocate on that, and having generally a sharper and kinder understanding on that. Being some volunteer work here and there and speaking out about these kinds of problems, more than what is present in the mcu and such considering that is a focus on her karen in 616 post born again (now some of that is somewhat dated in its treatment given the 80s war on drugs and porn; but you get the idea).

[kiisaes]

Hey! So I read your post about my hero academia, the one where you talked about having a weird fatherly connections towards it and I wanted to ask you about what aspects you don’t like about the series? I share a lot of your sentiments but I do think it’s probably more than mid series? A lot of the details and writing I like and I think is considerable better than other shounen mangas. Anyways sorry for rambling. I just wanted to know what aspects you liked on the series and the ones you didn’t like.

Also complete side note: I absolutely love you’re art it’s so beautiful you’re and really skilled drawer!

sure! and thank u anon!

i want to preface this by saying that everything here is my opinion. media analysis is inherently subjective and something i think is bad might be something you think is good. considering how mha is not a shounen that's universally applauded for any or all of its writing choices, it's expected that you and i may perceive this content differently. doesn't mean i'm right and you're wrong and vice versa, it's just a different individual take on the source content.

also, even though i think mha is "mid to mid-good" (as quoted from my textpost) i don't use "mid" as either an insult or in a "it's so average it's bad" way. i know that word has been fucked over bc ppl automatically assume that something being mid means something is bad or bland or boring. it's a middle of the road series with a good share of flaws and strengths, and it doesn't particularly stand out as anything incredibly amazing or awful. just an average to decently good story, and its level of quality fluctuates throughout its run.

at the end of the day, i do like mha. despite what i think of it, it's a series i hold close to my heart and one i can enjoy even without a critical eye. if i didn't, i wouldn't have been making content for it for 2, almost 3 consistent years.

anyway, stuff i like + stuff i don't like under the cut: (warning: VERY LONG)

mha stuff i do like:

deku. he is my little boy

for the most part, horikoshi's character writing is one of his strongest abilities. characters like bakugou, shigaraki, and dabi (and honestly the todoroki family as a unit) are some of the most compelling characters in a story like this. they're allowed to be complex, dynamic and a blend of virtuous and damning traits. they match the overall themes of mha, which is that the sheer concept of "good vs evil" is surface level at best, and that placing people into strict boxes blocks them from everything else that they are. basically a complete "fuck you" to viewers who must condemn a morally grey hero/villain, for example. even less morally grey characters like ochako (imo) are still fun twists and explorations on their given character stereotypes. however i'm obligated to say "for the most part" because hori's superb character writing only matters when he gives those characters time to breathe and actually exist. i'll get into this more later

horikoshi's art is fantastic and undoubtedly his greatest attribute as a mangaka. i firmly believe that, as far as shounen art goes, there aren't any that can rival mha that are also at its global reach. there's never a single moment where i read a chapter and go "wow that art wasn't incredible" because that's not possible. he utilizes his art knowledge so effortlessly and brings out so much in every panel he makes. the manga art never feels dull. i'm so insanely jealous and in awe of him. i guess i could be biased when making this point but i find it hard to genuinely hate his art. it's so polished every time

this is a smaller point that adds to the last one but i do appreciate how he draws women. not when he's using them for uncomfortable gags, but just in general. there's like, actual meat on their bones. they have realistic body proportions (for his style). many of the women are "chubbier" than other shounen women, and a good amount of them are buff as FUCK. it feels like hori puts the same amount of effort into drawing his female characters as he does his male characters, even if he might not dignify that writing-wise

as a fellow comic artist, i absolutely love his understanding of comic language. it's small details like his onomatopoeia reminiscent of western superhero comics that really tie the presentation together. each panel is full of life, with characters and backgrounds working together in the most effective ways. i can't remember what tumblr textpost brought this up, but he also loves playing around with panel borders. he spices them up by using different subjects or objects to split up panels. and this was more of a strength earlier in the series imo, but his pacing was also pretty quick and resourceful. it shows to me that he truly loves creating manga and knows when it's the right time to visually deviate from the norm. again, i'm truly envious of how he can do this. i only hope to reach his level someday ...

this is definitely a biased point, but some of the series' arcs/storylines are some of my favorite ones in fiction. these include the tournament arc, the kamino rescue arc, the overhaul arc, twice's death, and anything relating to the todoroki family. obviously i'm only listing a handful of examples here because i think nearly every arc has its good moments that i can comment on. but when i think of good mha storylines, i think of these first

i also think that mha as a whole is a fun series that knows how to laugh at itself. there's nothing more awkward than a story that takes itself way too seriously, but the content itself is poorly written or not interesting. thankfully, horikoshi doesn't really fall into this issue

there are canon lgbt characters in this series. even if that's kind of a low bar atp (considering how only 1 out of the 3 play a consistently important role), a win is a win is a win. especially in mainstream shounen, beggars can't exactly be choosers.

mha is a story about systemic societal injustice, which is a lofty concept to tackle. thankfully the story is about powers being the norm so the whole "i'm born better than you because i have abilities" is less of a status quo rejection and more of a status quo enabler. as a story concept, it's a good basis, doesn't seem too hard to comprehend, and opens the door for nuanced storytelling and discussion. i think hori does this well at the start of the series. but as the story goes on... uhhh. i'll talk about it.

mha stuff i don't like:

man do these women have basically nothing interesting to do. i complimented how they're drawn earlier, but with the exception of a few notable ones, a lot of their characters pale in comparison to the men. it's even sadder considering that the amount of women in mha is significantly lesser than, so 5 important female characters is like, 1/4 of the female cast. 5 important male characters is like, 1/12 of the male cast. idk i didn't count the amount of characters in this series but it sincerely feels this way, especially if you remember that there are definitely more than 5 important male characters at any moment throughout this series. and when female characters do have their time to shine, there's a 50/50 chance that they die, get gravely injured, or lose limbs. which normally isn't an issue in a battle shounen like mha, but out of the important character deaths in this series, a fair amount of them are women. midnight, magne, and star and stripe have pretty anticlimactic deaths too, to add insult to injury. lady nagant talked her shit then exploded. she's still alive but like ... what? did these characters have to be treated this way? i can't really think of any important male characters who get introduced then axed from the story like this, except for maybe stain (though he's a far more important character narratively). the reason why i bring up this really lengthy point is not because i think horikoshi is actively misogynistic. i just think he falls into the trap that many shounen mangakas face, which is that male characters are more interesting to a male dominated audience. hence, female characters usually get thrown to the side. there are some important women in mha that stand toe to toe with male characters, like toga and ochako, and there are definitely certified girlbosses like mirko and yaoyorozu. but god do i wish i could add more women to this list without having to think really really hard.

and to add onto the previous, shallow, unimportant characters only gain backstories when the narrative demands for it. horikoshi used to write characters revealing their intentions and history in relatively natural ways, like with ochako and her goal to become a hero for money. it kind of came out of nowhere, but it's a valid conversation a teenager would have with other teenagers. in context, it was revealed normally. i'm not sure when these reveals turned forced, but i remember seeing kirishima's backstory and being like "well .. would this have ever been told to us if kirishima wasn't a main character in this arc?" this isn't against kirishima's character; i love the guy and i think his history was short but contextualized his personality really well. but with the recent shoji backstory reveal i could only think, "wow. horikoshi must be really glad he made a mutant character to project this theme onto, huh." it didn't feel like shoji was ever meant to have a backstory — not to mention a very depressing one — but he got one this late in the series run because it was convenient for the plot. perhaps i'm a cynic and this isn't an issue for others, idk. that being said, i think characters like shoji and even star and stripe and lady nagant could have benefited from more natural character developments, maybe with more time given so it doesn't feel like a weirdly convenient reveal.

i just really fucking wish mineta would die already. like get kicked into the sun or blown up with TNT or run over by a car or something. he's less of an openly creepy loser than he was in the beginning of the series, but i'm sure that's because he literally doesn't have the luxury to be creepy at the moment. he's one of the least appealing gag characters that never grows and changes as a person. and he got a backstory before kaminari. can you fucking believe this shit? why does horikoshi keep entertaining this bullshittery— oh yeah. i just remembered that the girls were perved on quite a bit in this series, which wasn't funny and moreso uncomfortable for a lot of readers. like, i know it's shounen, it's animanga, fanservice is kind of the unfortunate norm. but by god, do we need a series poster child for pervy, male-gaze behavior?

i commented earlier about mha's themes and that i think, at least at the start, hori had a good grasp of what he was writing. framing society's systemic flaws and failures in a wacky superheroes vs villains story is not only clever, but makes this actually serious topic accessible to those who might think social-cultural politics are too intimidating. he sets this up starting from deku and bakugou (oppressed and privileged), then adds onto it with stain (heroes who retain the status quo by seeking money and status are not true heroes, because they don't help those in need). shigaraki is thrown into the mix along the way (society fucks over the underprivileged, even those who want to do good, which breeds more villains and in the real world, more criminals) and his little league of villains all have their own stories (spinner: those who don't look like the masses are cast aside, harassed and villainized; dabi: if you don't live up to cruel expectations established by society and parroted by those in your life, you might as well be worthless; toga: any unconventional worldviews and actions are deemed scary and evil; magne: trying to conform to a rigid society as a queer person is fucking hard, man). there's also endeavor (even though you're in a position of power and respect, it doesn't automatically make you a good person). these are all GREAT, and are super compelling set-ups for mha's overall themes: that society should change somewhat, villains are a product of this flawed system, there aren't fully good people nor fully bad people, rehabilitation/growth is good, and true heroes aren't identified by title, but by actions.

these themes are quite apparent throughout mha's entire run. but i feel like the further it goes, the less horikoshi knows how to verbalize them. the latest mini arc dealt with spinner vs shoji in a strangely awkward clash of ideals. spinner is seen as a martyr who really just wants mutants to be accepted into society, and his status rallies up those who have also been hurt. shoji retaliates by... telling them to stop? by saying this isn't the right way? because he was fortunate enough to be in this position, he suddenly has the authority to tell those like him to find a better way to get their voices heard? what, should they all just become heroes? haven't we established that the society they all belong in is fucked up, and that drastic change must be made? i understand what horikoshi is trying to say but it's... off. like the point is there, but the execution is clumsy. shoji even says something like spinner's revolution setting them back 30 years, which is so fucking bizarre to say, and would certainly raise eyebrows in the real world. it sounds like villains can express their grievances with society but they can't dare revolutionize. otherwise, they'll be silenced/ignored again. it's the whole "violence breeds more violence" belief, but there's more to that that should be explored. man, i dunno.

i'm harping on this one story instance but recent mha is riddled with well-meaning but clumsy storytelling like this. and since the narrative relies on these complex, nuanced themes, it's jarring when the nuance falls through. if mha is about breaking harmful norms, why do they still dictate the execution? hori did it so right with deku and bakugou, their relationship being a definite high in the series. but i truly don't how he'll treat the villains at the end of this arc

ok tumblr's telling me to shut up anyway these are my thoughts. again, even though i've rambled so much about my dislikes, i think mha is still a fun and enjoyable series. it misses the point sometimes, but it doesn't detract from its successes. either way my opinions should not rule over how you consume the series. it's always important to form your own opinions!!!

[abri-chan]

so I kinda get the sentiment of those fans that wanted byakuya to die during the Quincy arc.

He's been a widower for how many years now? 50? He's clearly not in the mindset to recover from the death of Rukia's sister, and has made up his mind to (1) dedicate his life to the clan and its reputation, so managerial, and (2) to raise/protect Rukia as the only thing left from his deceased wife and also to honor her final wish to give Rukia a sibling that loved her, so familial. It makes sense then, that having failed (1) at the start of the war and having already accomplished (2) because Rukia is now grown, there isn't much for Byakuya to do in the narrative anymore. The person he loved is elsewhere, and Rukia is in the future he has no interest in participating, except as an observer.

(byakuya as a character does nothing for me and I loathe the way he treated Rukia--just because you're dealing with trauma inside and have issues to resolve doesn't mean you get to be a dick to your sister. At the same time, it could be that he opened his heart once to Rukia's sister and was spontaneous/followed his heart, only to have the result be losing his wife anyway and being left alone once again. The way the panel with the death of the wife is drawn, it shows how he shut himself from the world because of that one event. It's fitting to his character in a way to never recover from that, and walk himself in... and when the old world dies, he will die with it because he won't step out of his shelter. I think he's one of those characters that subconsciously wants to die, but cannot bring himself to kill himself because shame or duty, but would welcome an event where death just takes him. I think he would be fine with dying during that war too.)

(not me obsessing over paneling bc kubo is good at it, damn him, but I love how he holds her hand almost like she's a princess and he will kiss it. It's almost like he's the one kneeling and below her, even though she's the one laying on her deathbed and he's sitting next to her. He looks below her because he's crushed by her death while she has made peace with it... the framing of above/below each other's level/gaze is pretty interesting in this page--i really like the perspective framing. what was that one good siken quote (i find siken pretentious btw): you throw your sorrow away but you're left with your hands?)

[aokuro-san]

Some thoughts on TokRev and Ken Wakui (before reading the ending)

I want to clarify that this is my point of view and that if you have a different one, that's fine (even if you don't agree)! So let's move on.

Let's see, although everyone has a fairly well-argued point about why they don't like the ending, I think that the fact of saying: "these are not my characters" is as true as it is uncertain. I mean, there are things that WILL happen anyway and shape our characters as we know them...

...except for a few incidents that did traumatize them for life (like this: Draken never got over Emma's death and in all futures he lived extremely DEPRESSED; that is, he lived just to live. In fact, I've always had a theory that just like Ash Lynx, in Banana Fish, Draken allowed himself to die protecting Takemichi knowing what would happen to him, and at least now they both have a chance).

For example:

Kazutora will continue to have to survive the mistreatment of her father and the bullying and blackmail of her classmates until he runs into Baji, which is most likely, or another character, and he will have to start to evolve as a person from there (as we saw in several of the extras).

Emma and Draken will continue to be abandoned by their mothers. In fact, when Takemichi arrives in the past, Emma is already with the Sano and, finally, has had to "overcome" that abandonment (I put it in quotes because it doesn't seem like the right word, but now I can't think of another).

In addition, Draken will continue to live in "the massage room" and will see how the girls are prostituted and discarded. That is, he will have to learn to live in that environment and the "little" slavery he suffered from older gang members before becoming Mikey's friend.

Mitsuya and Shiba will meet in the same way and will live exactly the same. However, I want to take a little break here, because NO, I don't think Shiba family life is as good as some people think. In fact, in the color panel of the wedding you can see that Taiju is still quite far from his two little brothers. We will have to read the chapter to draw a little more conclusions, but I think that Taiju will never be able to completely redeem himself from what he did as we saw in the manga.

Izana will continue to be abandoned by all the adults around him, which will mold him as a person until Shinichiro finds him. I think this is the most difficult character to read because of the kind of life he has led, but we will have to wait for the little explanation.

Kakucho will also lose his parents in a car accident (see the scar) and the Sano will lose their father in another, and their mother due to an "illness" (which could be a hidden depression in the play, from my point of view).

And etc etc etc.

I mean, of course, Takemichi and Mikey STILL THE SAME (they are the same characters from the beginning, I mean) and it seems that thanks to that knowledge of the facts they have been able to help the vast majority of the characters (if not all, hahahaha), but they will not be able to control all the incidents in the lives of the characters. Probably, they will have spent many battles with Taiju and Izana, before achieving their objective, which, after all, WAS THE OBJECTIVE OF THEM BOTH. Especially Takemichi, our protagonist.

Actually, this ending can be as counterproductive (because of the rush, more than anything, I have already said it on another occasion), as it is appropriate for what Tokyo Revengers is, since it closes the two conflicts that arose from the beginning: "the loneliness" and "save them all" (and the penultimate chapter finally makes sense of the title and makes the best revenge of all: THE REVENGE OF TRYING TO BE HAPPY!). However, he has done it at the cost of MANY UNSOLVED THINGS (and leaving Shinichiro like the unsalted bread he has been from the beginning, haha). However, this seems to me the least serious of all. Let me explain: AN AUTHOR DOES NOT OWE YOU AN EXPLANATION OF EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS. Especially IF EVEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW TIME TRAVEL WORKS OR THEY DOESN'T REALIZE THE THINGS THAT, MAYBE, THE SPECTATOR DOES REALIZE.

Also, Takemichi is our main narrator most of the time, and I already said that he's not a smart enough person to notice this "nonsense", or give it due importance, which makes it much easier for the author leave those "loose ends" without endangering the coherence of the work, or the main character.

It is true that doing something like this is a risk and that ignorance works much better in horror works. I also would have liked it to fix some specific points (like, who was spying on Takemichi in the Bonten arc?), but if not, I DON'T DIE EITHER, TRUTH. Because, if you think about it, what the author has done with this part of the story is to make sure that people like me CHECK THE MANGA INFINITELY, hahaha. It's a great tactic, no doubt.

Or those are my conclusions, before reading the ending, of course.

PS: I see a lot of people saying that that wasn't the ending that Wakui wanted to do or that TokRev should have been a seinen... I honestly have no idea how the manga industry works in Japan. I only know that the publisher itself asked Wakui for a story and he created Tokyo Revengers from there. The first shônen of him. There is nothing wrong with TokRev being shônen, in fact, it is thanks to this work and the genre that Wakui has become known worldwide and if you want to read something about gang members and seinen, you can read Shinjuku Swan, one of his earlier works. I don't see a problem with that, really.

What I would worry about is that Wakui hadn't made the ending he wanted. I guess we'll see that over time. But if he really has made the ending he wanted (and had in mind since Bloody Halloween, as he said in an interview), THEN THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN SAY TO HIM IN THAT SENSE (Not that you can't criticize the ending, but insult him, try to convince him day and night to change the ending, send him pictures of them burning his manga for the ending, and generally harass him for the ending he finished picking out. I'm not surprised by this attitude, unfortunately, but it's still CRAZY and a huge lack of respect for the artist). Because, as John Katzenbach said in an interview:

"Do what you want to do. The story you tell should be YOUR STORY. Because a lot of people will come to you and say: You know, if you turn this 16-year-old boy into a 20-year-old girl, the story will be much better. ... No. Tell the story you want to tell and have faith in that. It may or may not work... But you'll be happy in the long run, if you stay true to your own vision."

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

tagged by @howdydowdy <3 thankss!! i also don't watch a tonne of shows but i do watch a lot of films so i'm gonna do a combo of the two lol

8 shows/films to get to know me

borstal boy (2000(?) film) - watching this as a teen Changed me tbh... it also definitely gave me one of my first glimpses of a bisexual character on screen... also danny dyer plays a gay sailor in this i mean??? what more could you want lol (also feel like this film is equal parts depressing and hopeful which is my ideal kinda film lol)

the simpsons - i watched this religiously as a kid (every night at 6pm on channel 4 lol) so much so that my family makes jokes that everything i know i know from the simpsons lol...

would i lie to you? (uk panel show) - i feel like this show really explains a lot of my style of humour (i've literally nearly pissed myself whilst watching this show at times lol), plus i've had a crush on david mitchell for years which like no that isn't relevant to this list but i'm including it anyway... one of my fav clips is 'lee mack's keys' (give it a search on youtube it's hilar lol)

watership down (1970s animated film, i also love the book too btw) - the animation style of the very first part of this film has literally never left me, it's like ingrained onto my brain as the most incredible thing ever! the rest of the film is also amazing, albeit brutal at times which definitely fucked me up as a kid... esp that evil rabbit (wormwort?), pretty sure i was terrified of him lol

hook (1990s film (yes i know i could look up the exact date but i'm not gonna cos i'm lazy)) - this is one of the films that i know so many quotes from & me and my family use them to each other all the time lol (you're doing it peter! RUFIO RUFIO RU FI OHHHHH you're. afraid. you're. going. to. get. sucked. out. stop acting like a child!! i am a child!? RUN HOME JACK RUN HOME JACK wait...HOME RUN JACK HOME RUN JACK don't stop me smee don't stop me stop me smee stop me ... you get the picture lol) robin william's films just have a special place in my heart and this is one of the best imo

gayle (youtube comedy series) - it's embarrassing how much i think about this series & i literally rewatch it at least once every year so... i feel like that says a lot about me... idk WHAT exactly it says but it is.. it's a lot lol

i'm a cyborg but that's ok (2008(??) film) - if you asked me what my favourite park chanwook film is, you'd probs guess i'd pick the handmaiden, but you'd be so so so wrong, because THIS film is an absolute masterpiece that hasn't left me since my sister showed it to me like 10 years ago lol... it's about mental illness and stigma and grief and love and also rain (the singer) yodels in it whilst flying through the air it's great

labyrinth (1986 film (hey i actually remembered the date lol!) - i'm been thinking for ages what final thing to include and realised it had been staring me in the face: labyrinth, literally my favourite film of all time lol! it's equal amounts comedic, creepy, emotional, plus david bowie is there in ALL his glory (some may say too much glory but i'd tell them to shut their goddamn mouths lol)! the songs are amazing, the ballroom scene literally shaped who i am now.. it's a film about adolescence, siblings, it's about friendship and found family, it's about growing up but also keeping your childhood close at heart, should you need it... it's also about david bowie's bul- *gunshot*

that's all folks! i did try and not just include stuff that i'm nostalgic about, but unfortunately nostalgia is my middle name so most of these are things i've connected to for a very long time...

tagging (no pressure to actually do it ofc, the original prompt is 8 shows i think but you can essentially change it to 8 anything in my book lol): @dollopheadsandclotpoles @wovesaxe @micamicster @platypusplayhere @sylvasa @asoftspotforangels @zelvuska

[istherewifiinhell]

okay. okay. if anyone is in for. "a good time" (why they put that in scare quotes? SHH). mirage issue 15. found anyway you read comics online and broke ;}. which came out after 16 dont worry about it. has a letters section. to set the scene. this is after eastman and laird have a soft separation and dont work together on books like they used to. this after (first seasons of) the show is out. and its after each of there "solo" debuts (each has a different inker and the mirage studios letterer), and after the first main book with a 'guest' artist soloing the issue.

suffice to say. fans never change. tho its funny you used to have to pay postage to say it. its. everything you could possible imagine it to be. what is this crap? you guys cant work apart? whys the plot not going HOW I THINK IT OUGHT. its soft baby shit and you guys are sell outs. etcetcetc. incredible stuff. self parody really.

made even funnier that the section also includes one of theeeee most prototypical concerned parent letters. those foul turtle comics! think of the children. which. imma include some of lairds response too cause i think its interesting to hear from. one of the guys who's. maybe most had that levied at him. like. ever?

(extra graph breaks mine) On the values of the turtles:

On think of the children:

... If you had read all of our books, you would have seen that we try to use the "off-screen" approach wherever possible, keeping the actual act of violence outside of the panel. Also, if you had taken the time to read all of our books, I'm sure you would have seen that we do not have the Turtles going out looking for trouble, fighting for the sake of fighting, being bullies, or using excessive force; just as we also do not have them cursing continuously (if at all, really) or using slang or poorly structured language excessively in fact, the Turtles by and large speak with correct grammar and syntax, and only speak otherwise when under stress or responding to excitement.

If you had spent the extra effort to really read our books, you would have also seen that the values that we promote through the Turtles' words and actions are positive ones, including respect for the rights of the individual; reverence for the wisdom that comes with age; and recognition of the value of a caring family life, among others. Yes, the Turtles aren't perfect characters - they lose their tempers, they squabble, they insult one another. But they also help others in need, and try to do the right thing, and care for each other. And isn't that they way it is in real life? Why shouldn't our comic book reflect that?

d'ya think he's mad?

I'm always concerned when I hear people fussing and fuming over sex and violence in the media; when they imply that merely being exposed to either or both will turn any child into a sociopath or psychopath. That, put quite simply, is crap. It flies in the face of all common sense: Of all the millions and millions of us who were exposed to thousands of hours of sleaze and violence on the tube and in books and magazines, how many of us turned out to be violent cases?

Think about it. There is no simple "cause and effect" relationship. What truly matters is the way the parent or parents of each child bring that child up… and that is scary to some who would rather not make the effort needed to teach their children to lead good and just lives, and finding a convenient scapegoat (comic books, movies, TV, etc.) is much more appealing, as it offers an easy cover for their own failings.

on comics as a medium:

you know what yeah i think he might have had enough.

But I would like to try to get you to see that your view of comics as a strictly children's medium is way off base. It is not now, and never has been. Think about it- just because there are large, hardcover illustrated children's books, do you expect all large, hardcover, illustrated books to be for children? Of course not; and the same holds true for all media, including comic books.

Comics can be for young kids… but they can also be for teenagers… and they can be for adults. In fact, they can be for all ages, and that is the way we approach the Turtle books. We believe they are suitable for all ages, and do not require some kind of label to protect innocent young children from their contents.

In closing, I would like to touch on one of your statements, that "At best these comics should not be printed…". I have to ask you, do you really believe that? Because if you do… well, I'll just say that I am grateful for the fact that you are not an omnipotent being, because I would hate to live in the kind of creatively constipated, simple-minded, and facistic world you would surely create.

"At best these comics should not be printed…" - have you no conception of what a mind-bogglingly insensitive and dictatorial statement that is? It's as if I were to say to you, "At best Bonnie Winter should never be allowed to speak her mind." Does that sound like the "land of the free, home of the brave" to you?

It doesn't to me.

[it-is-i-zim]

sigh I'll bite what about tit out boomerang

Bit of a doozy here. So first of, he's only showed up in like... 5 or 6 panels of issue #3 of Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU so far. Problem is, he's under Starro's control so he's not like... Actually doing anything Starro is making his body do things with the Starro Spore on his face. I looked into Starro's weakness and therefore I could fix him by ripping the Starro Spore off his face. I might have to lock up in a freezer or something but yeah. Also supposedly in comics the hosts are still alive and the based on what happened to Harley... I'd say he's probably still alive under there. Since I want the Starro Spore off his face and I want him to just... Live his life, that's what makes it so far from the original cuz so far he's only showed as a host for Starro. He should be allowed to kill and bite and maim Starro for what they? It? (Wtf are Starro's pronouns. Does Starro even have pronouns???) did to him. Sadly this is like... The most he's showed up in ANYTHING since he died in the movie and since the game has been delayed until February of next year it could still be quite some time before he finally shows up more. So like... 6 panels where he's infected with a starfish shaped facehugger is the best I got rn. So I'm using what I got to craft my own little thing where he's got a sick ass looking Starro shaped scar like how Harley had (she always gets the attention anymore). Normally he's just a silly little guy. A fucking court jester even. But with him being part of a hive mind at the moment we just don't get to see it. Yeah, he's still able to bite and kill and maim, but not in a way he really wants to because of the whole hive mind parasite bs. The og has 2 kinds of daddy issues and I like characters with daddy issues. The original is also an asshole and I love them for it so I'm saying he's also an asshole. I don't think there's a version of him out there who isn't an asshole tbh. I fucking love his design. Except you know... The fact you can't see his fucking face. Can't wait to peel that parasite of his face to look that asshole in the eyes. I hope his eyes are green. It's been a minute since he's been drawn in canon with green eyes. But here's another picture of his design. It's so fucking good. I wish I looked that hot and sexy. I want to look exactly like that. Minus the mind controlling starfish shaped alien facehugger.

AND THE SCARS ON HIS ARMS PLEASE THAT'S SO FUN!!!!!! Then uh... there's his tit.

It's just hanging out of his shirt. There's a big ass hole and you can see his tit through the hole. I need more of this with Boomer he deserves it with his probably around 20 deaths now because Jesus Christ he keeps fucking dying. I MADE A POST ABOUT HIM ACTUALLY AND I KEEP SENDING ONE OF MY FRIENDS THIS SAME IMAGE OF HIS TIT. LET ME QUOTE THEM ACTUALLY BECAUSE I FOUND OUT ABOUT HIM LITERALLY FUCKING YESTERDAY AND I HAVEN'T SHUT UP ABOUT HIS TIT I'M SO NOT NORMAL ABOUT THIS

Anyway... heres the quote:

"STOP SENDING THE TITTY PIC I BEG YOU"

-@rallazarthemagnificent

Sadly I fully expect him to die at least once in this series cuz that's... That's just what he do. He dies. A lot. He means everything to me though and I wish he stopped dying for once.