#the scene makes me so insane honestly especially the part with his mother

[thuringwedhil]

started to draw something inspired by the "king of beasts, father" scene + the following massacre from the darth plagueis novel and couldn't help myself but give the gremlin a pair of earrings ... as a treat

[aihoshiino]

chapter 142 thoughts!

HEADS UP: In this review I discuss fictional depictions of sibling incest as well as a brief reference to both fictional and a real life suicide. As usual, feel free to skip if you're not in the right zone and I'll see you next time.

thank you for the kind words from everyone when i was still in the Slime Era of feeling sick lol. i'm like 80% back to full power now!

I'm gonna be totally up front and say I really think this is one of the worst chapters we've gotten in a while but here's the twist: it's not for the reasons you probably think!

We're following up basically right off the back of last chapter and immediately I am kind of mad at how shitty the series is continuing to do Miyako with regards to the movie arc. She was a total non-factor in the RBKN conflict and now that Aqua and Ruby are being pressured into doing something they have both verbalized that they don't want to do she's just like well gosh i feel complicated but what can i do :(. Having the setup almost 20 full chapters ago of Miyako expressing that she wants to step up and do more for Aqua and Ruby as their mother and then having her completely failing to intervene on their behalf here is just wild.

In general, the way everything is being set up to force this kiss feels so… well, forced. Even if Kaburagi (as the story says) insisted there be a kiss scene, there are a million ways to fake a kiss that doesn't involve actors actually kissing. Body doubles! Camera angles! Putting your thumbs in the way! Unless Kaburagi said "I want 20 full seconds of Kamiki sticking his tongue down Ai's throat center frame", there is absolutely no reason "a kiss scene" needs to mean "these two blood related twin sibling actors actually kiss". The whole thing is just so incredibly contrived.

And honestly? The fact that both Ruby and Aqua have expressed a 'no' and are being forced to do this anyway is the part of this chapter making me the most actively insane. It is absolutely mind boggling to have spent half of last chapter on a Miyako monologue about how immoral and unethical it is when people's ability to give informed and sincere consent is compromised by the entertainment industry and to then follow it with a whole chapter of basically every character we're supposed to like flaunting a total lack of respect for Aqua's comfort and consent in this regard, up to and including the completely insane scene of two adult women lecturing Aqua about how he isn't allowed to have boundaries. What the fuck is going on here!!!

This is especially frustrating because I actually really like a lot of things about the scene with Yoriko and Abiko… even if there's some stuff that really kind of broke me lol. Like uh, wasn't it a really huge plot point in Tokyo Blade that a mangaka couldn't be expected to turn out an entertaining theater script because those are two entirely different kinds of storytelling…??? But whatever.

Off the bat, I have really mixed-leaning-negative feelings about the reveal that the KamiAi romance scenes we'd gotten were entirely fictional. On the one hand, I actually feel pretty validated - I had guessed that the full-immersion-flashback presentation was a hint that we were being presented with a falsehood and it implicitly confirms something I've been saying from the start that 15 Year Lie's version of events has to be taken with a grain of salt, both because it contradicts known events and facts and because so many other people have interfered with it. Having that made textual and being able to confidently say it helps a lot in discussing what this means for the story.

But like… that means we wasted a whole bunch of time on shit that was made up and didn't matter! Like, thematically speaking, I think this is potentially interesting but I just keep getting stuck on the fact that we were given a super interesting scene finally fleshing out and giving us info about both a character and a relationship we've been absolutely starved for details about, only for the story to turn around not two chapters later and go "and my source? i made it the fuck up". It just totally dashes all the enthusiasm I was feeling and it also makes it way less rewarding to try and dig into what 15YL is doing when at any time, all of this potentially interesting character work could be revealed to be total piss in the wind.

Stepping back from that… in total isolation from everything else, I do think this talk with Abiko and Yoriko about what it means to write stories is interesting from a lot of angles. While I don't think these two are the 1-to-1 author avatars for Aka and Mengo fandom treats them as, they nevertheless clearly serve as reflections of the two's experiences and viewpoints about the manga industry and specific and the art of storytelling in general, allowing the story to play around in the quasi-metafictional space it does sometimes, where it uses in-universe fiction as a method of commenting on itself.

In that sense, I think Yoriko can be understood as speaking for Akasaka here and discussing some of his feelings as a storyteller of Oshi no Ko specifically. OnK has never made a secret of the fact that it's drawing on Akasaka's real experiences in the entertainment industry but perhaps less obvious to overseas fans is the inspiration it takes from real life issues in contemporary Japanese pop culture, too. Infamously, Akane's arc very transparent drew inspiration - if it wasn't reconstructed entirely - from the suicide of Hana Kimura, not even six full months after Kimura's death. When the anime aired, Kimura's surviving mother (imo, rightfully and deservedly) lambasted the series for using her daughter's death as the fodder for entertainment without consulting her surviving family. It wasn't even that she disagreed with what the series was saying - she just wanted someone to have some consideration.

This is what Yoriko means when she talks about the responsibility a writer has to their stories. When you write a piece of fiction as highly visible as Oshi no Ko currently is, it is your responsibility to consider the impact your words will have on the world. No, fiction does not directly impact the real world in a physical, tangible way but if we are careless with our stories, we can regurgitate and perpetuate dominant cultural narratives that very much do cause real, tangible harm to marginalized people. Hikaru Kamiki isn't a real person, but there are undoubtedly people in OnK's readerbase who see their experiences mirrored in him. Airi Himekawa isn't real, but people like her exist. Akane Kurokawa isn't real but Hana Kimura was.

This discussion also serves as an interesting warning to Aqua himself, though maybe not quite in the sense Yoriko intended. Aqua's revenge has always been something treated, in-universe, as a sort of fiction in of itself; Aqua calls it his 'revenge play' and his primary method of pursuing it is to become an actor. It's a retribution narrative about real people and Aqua is its author. But as Yoriko reminds him… stories can kill. Especially ones featuring real people. Aqua has been telling himself a comfortable lie for years that only he will be hurt by his own inevitable self destruction but Yoriko reminds him that he isn't the only person involved here and that he is inevitably going to cause great pain to the people he loves if her continues down this path.

That's why this chapter is so frustrating. This is all good, meaty character work with some great thematic overtones… and it's all in service of contriving this scenario where Aqua has no choice but to tongue his sister on camera and for some reason, nobody is pointing out the million and one alternatives to this deranged scenario.

But anyway. Enough beating around the bush: let's talk about That Scene. And despite what everything I've said this post might lead you to believe… I actually really like it.

I don't know exactly what activated to make her go sicko mode but Mengo has been really on fucking fire with her art on the series lately. It really jumped out to me in 137 but she's honestly been cooking since the very start of the movie arc. It stands out especially strongly in Aqua and Ruby's talk on the balcony in ways I really vibed with. The whole scene feels like Ruby's shoujo brainrot and the cold reality of what she's tiptoeing around suggesting to Aqua are battling out for dominance over the framing. Ruby's stubbornness is such a force to be reckoned with that it almost wins entirely but there are moments where the lens cracks and we see things as they are. Aqua's discomfort practically radiates off the page this entire conversation.

Not only that but… jesus christ, Ruby. Just look at how she's framed when she first enters the scene.

That oppressive silhouette, her shaded eyes and that sinister smile… I probably don't need to tell you that's NOT how you typically frame a romantic heroine. She honestly almost looks more like a villain.

But Ruby quickly reasserts control over the framing. Or rather, what she's suggesting is such a sugary shoujo fantasy, the framing has no other option but to comply. At last, Ruby steps out of the shallow channel of plausible deniability and puts into concrete words what she has been thinking and longing for these last twenty chapters: for her to retake her role as Sarina Tendoji and for Aqua, in turn, to play Gorou for her once again. More than that - she pushes him for a concrete response to her love at last, not as Ruby but as Sarina; not only does the paneling repeatedly cover the eye with her star but in the final panel where she unambiguously propositions Aqua, the star is completely gone. This is what Ruby is offering: to completely sever her connection to Ai and the new life she has built on that foundation and to return to being Sarina, if that is what the doctor she loves wants.

This is SUCH an incredibly effective scene. It's excellently done and the art is fantastic. It finally draws out and makes explicit the underlying disconcerting subtext that has been swimming under the twins' relationship since 123. It works fantastically well… in isolation. But when taken into the context of the rest of the story it just feels so… unearned.

For the last 20 chapters, we have had absolutely no serious insight into Ruby's feelings re: the reveal of Gorou's new identity as Aqua. We didn't see her grapple with it or have to adjust to it at all. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and she was suddenly a 2010s fanservice imouto splooging about her oniichan. Her interiority in this regard is completely absent. Whenever the subject is addressed at all, it is made into a joke with Ruby as the punchline. There has been no serious build up to this moment or any meaningful time spent on Ruby's feelings about Aqua and as such, being asked to take it seriously now feels so incredibly jarring.

I've said this over and over in other places but I'll make this clear here: the handling of Ruby's feelings is not bad because Incest Is Morally Bad or whatever. At the end of the day, OnK is fiction and fiction is a space that allows us to explore ideas and scenarios that would be unpleasant, dangerous or even downright immoral to try and interrogate in real life with real people. Not only that, but AQRB's situation is so far removed from anything any real person could experience there's very little risk of it acting as a harmful reflection of a real person's life. But because OnK had the space to do just about anything with this idea, I'm so incredibly baffled that it chose to do all of nothing. This is a plot point that has been cooking since the literal first chapter of the entire series and now, just under four years and over 140 chapters past our starting point… and this is the best Akasaka can do? Dated brocon humor that reduces Ruby to a shallow gag character, denying her the opportunity to have deeper, more complex and ugly feelings and denying her the respect of examining those feelings with honesty?

It sucks. This whole thing really sucks. As someone who loves Ruby so, so much… this really just feels like an insulting way to have handled what should have been one of the most interesting and engaging parts of her series long arc.

I do think this chapter is the beginning of the end of AquRuby's time in the endgame couple race, if it was ever seriously in the running to begin with. Ruby embracing Aqua with a proposition in those final two panels echoes Akane doing the same in chapter 72 and the fact that this cliffhanger ends on the proposition and not a kiss implies to me, structurally speaking, that we are heading for a rejection. On top of that, we're pretty far away from the manga's ending still and Kana's romantic resolution with Aqua hasn't gotten its time to shine. All those factors together makes me feel pretty certain that this is the final nail in the coffin and we're just waiting to see how Aka sticks the landing.

After all - Ruby is asking for his response as Sarina. And if this is Sarina asking for his love one last time… we already know how Gorou's going to respond.

[yuseirra]

Onk spoilers*****

I had people contact me about 159 and GUYS...you have to trust this guy who Ai's loved with all her heart. Think about the songs...he doesn't regard his own life very high. He'd do ANYTHING, he'd lie with all his might, he's a liar... If that means he can bring her back. That's what he's trying to do and Aqua is there trying to prevent him from doing so.

Hehe more in the read more: I will have to see the actual chapter in full but here's what I think from what I picked up:

And it really DOES seem like.. Kamiki didn't play a part in Ai's murder. It REALLY was nino and ryosuke and they were the ones who collaborated. This means, Kamiki really could have just had the address slip out by pure mistake and that had a butterfly effect, making him feel guilty about everything. I honestly wouldn't take it any other way if I were to ship Ai and him together and I'd been drawing things all along with that as the basis. He's just like Aqua who's trapped in guilt for things he isn't so responsible for.

Yesterday I wrote a soft, tender and melancholic post as an analysis and what I picked up today (I honestly still have no clear idea of what the heck is going on lol, I could vaguely make out the words people tell me-I may be missing out BIG chunks and I NEED to see the facial expressions and stuff) made me burst out laughing, it's ridiculous and hilarious, even.. But it does make sense if it's this way.

The fact that Ai wants to HELP him and how Aqua mentions he has to HELP him now all connects so nicely together. I think there IS a reason why there were scenes where Kamiki called himself a liar as a child. He's still lying, but this time, as the bad guy who deserves to die because he doesn't want anyone to worry or care about him at all. He's really good at it in a meta sense, I bet people are going wild anticipating him as the true villian and the final boss but think about it, what is there for him to even lie about?? The lie, I think, is the fact that he told Aqua he's a psychopathic murderer who tried to scare Ai for having dumped him, leading to her death. He didn't do any of it, and only said those because he wanted to be avenged.. He can't forgive himself for having caused Ai to be attacked even if it's not really his fault. He doesn't want his children to feel bad about getting back at him for it. Aqua's saying he's insane for lying about stuff like this for this reason to his OWN SON.

Aqua should not approach Kamiki like this if he's the guy that's hurt Ai. He's weirdly lenient with him. And he says he's going to help him. You can't "help" a terrible murderer, especially the one that's killed your lovely mother.

As someone who's been drawing the hikaai ship w passion, I have a responsibility to grab kamiki by the collar and kick his butt really strong if he turns out to be a maniac 😊 no worries. But I don't think it's going to be that way, actually. He's lying in desperation because he's found Ai really loved him back; he can really cross lines now if it means she'll live. He wants to die in her place, that's what I'm guessing. He's really similar to aqua in some aspects. He's okay about being regarded as a terrible person as long as he can protect the ones he loves.

This is perfect in my opinion. If it goes in the direction I anticipate, it makes full sense. There must be some way to exchange a life for another. Kamiki wants to go through with it for Ai but Ai stops him with the help of her children even beyond death.

And you know what? I was beginning to think wait.. Did nino and ryosuke date? After the latest chapter but I didn' t write that because there was no solid basis but like, that turned out to be true,

I'm... Starting to get really confident about character analyses when it comes to this comic, everything escalates SO FAST and I can't predict what actions they take, but I feel like I can sense what kind of emotions they have when they do something.

So if this isn't it, I'll be. Then I'll actually feel more relaxed since I'll be able to watch without getting so attached to what they will be feeling, it'd be unpredictable for me and I'll just watch it for pure entertainment, there won't be any more analysis I make that will...be right.

I'll still be glad I've read this even if it ends up like that, though, it's made me think about a lot of things. I really come to love Ai so much as a character, and from what I see, everything will be as she wishes in the story of onk in the very end. I'd like to see it happen and I will root for it!

[princess-of-the-corner]

Quirk Awakenings

Because ya know what? Fuck it! If they ain’t gonna give us solid explanations, I'mma make my own until told otherwise! At least to get The thoughts out so they stop spinning in my head!

So! What’s a “Quirk Awakening”?

Well, it seems to be when a Quirk gets stronger, obviously. But not gradually, through training, but all at once. Usually in response to a perceived threat, or if the person in question is under extreme duress - usually physical, though emotional or mental seems to count in a few cases. So, we’ll say a “Quirk Awakening” is a survival mechanism, a response to a threat, meant to ensure someone’s survival. Similar to an “adrenaline rush” in us regular humans, the kind of thing that let’s mothers move whole cars off trapped children, or lets a human survive almost being frozen solid, or losing a limb. The part of the human body and psyche that makes us go “Not Today, Bitch!” and then perform some sort of god-mode glitch we will never be able to replicate. 

Of course, such actions have consequences. Like, that mother absolutely saved her trapped kid. She also wrecked all the muscles in her arms and back, and will need a lot of physical therapy to recover. So, do Quirk Awakenings have that? Do they effect people that way??

No Idea! Cause what the FUCK do Quirk Awakenings look like, really? They seem wildly different for everyone - which makes sense! No one has the exact same Quirk! But like. What counts as an “Awakening”? Kirishima has his “Unbreakable” mode, which yes, he got through training. But he trained by hardening up, and having people use him as a punching bag. He put himself under duress, to improve his Quirk! Does that count as an Awakening?? Izuku has random power jumps all over the place, as new Quirks come in - does that count? No clue!

Honestly, the only thing that sticks out to me, the thing that makes me think, and tentatively codify this, is Iida.

Hear me out.

So, there’s that scene where Tensei tells his little brother about a “secret technique” that will make him stronger. Normally, in Shonen manga like this, that sort of thing leads to a training montage, mastering some “hidden art” or finding a new understanding. They’ll condense it down, but it’s implied to take a long time, or it should. But that’s not what Tensei tells Tenya. No, the super special “secret technique”? Rip out his mufflers, so they’ll grow back stronger. When I first saw this, I was like “what????”. That doesn’t seem like “training” to me - that’s a little extreme, especially if you watch that scene! Iida has cloth in his mouth, a first aid kit next to him, and IS CLEARLY IN AGONY. He’s sweating, tense, he looks like he’s about to cry. There’s BLOOD. Not to mention the setting, I was absolutely flabbergasted. I questioned why the HELL Iida was out in the woods doing this - if it’s known about in his family, then why isn’t Iida being sedated in a sterile environment? Why isn’t there a trusted doctor team HELPING with this?

Then I thought about it more, and I think I know what it is.

The Iida family’s “secret technique” is them forcing their bodies through a semi-controlled “Quirk Awakening”.

A Quirk Awakening only seems to really happen when a person is put under duress. A “Do or Die” situation. When they don’t have a choice but to either fight back, or fall. Uraraka is implied to get one in the manga, making a Sort of “field” around her where she controls the gravity, without her having to touch anything. Bakugou gets one at some point, seeming to gain the ability to control his sweat, waterbender style, to create explosions at a distance, with better control. Both of them were in situations where they, quite possibly, could have (or should have) died. They were put in a situation where they were told “live or die”, and hit that survival threshold that lets people do insane shit when threatened. So, this Iida Family Secret Technique? It’s mimicking that, which means it really only works when done in suboptimal conditions.

Think about it. The Iida family are one of the older hero families. Why would they hurt themselves like that unless there wasn’t another option? The Engine Quirk has probably gone through a few iterations, some of them likely had their mufflers ripped out while Heroing. They probably noticed that the mufflers that grew back were stronger. Some of them probably figured the “grew back stronger” and tried to do the same in controlled conditions, and I bet you anything it didn’t work. They grew back barely stronger, the same, or maybe not at all. Cause In controlled conditions? You’re safe, and you know it. There isn’t that pressure, that drive that forces your body past its limits. The thing that says “we need to be stronger RIGHT NOW”. It only really works when you put yourself in conditions that force a similar feeling of duress as an actual fight - hence Iida going into UA’s back yard with a first aid kit and no painkillers, without telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing.

This also made me think, that a Quirk Awakening? Is more like a rapid Quirk “Evolution” or “Advancement”. It’s your Quirk jumping ahead to save your life, regardless of how trained you are, or if you were “evolved” enough to handle it. I think it’s totally possible to train to the same (or at least similar) level you would get from a Quirk Awakening but it takes time, effort. It’s that same Quirk Awakening, but done slower, letting everything adjust and grow more gradually. Like, if you go through a proper Quirk Awakening? It’s like a growth spurt during puberty, suddenly your balance sucks, everything is stretched and it hurts, you’re hungry and tired - your body has developed rapidly, not really giving you time to adjust for it, making you play catch up with yourself. To use Kirishima as an example, if, say, during the USJ, Kiri had been put in a situation where he needed that Unbreakable Mode? I bet you he’d unlock it. But I also bet, afterward, he’d be sore, maybe dry skin, tense muscles, need to eat for three and sleep for a week. Iida probably needed to almost relearn how to run with the new mufflers, needed to stretch more, drink more OJ, his whole legs were sore, not just where he tore the mufflers out.

So, like, another example - Let’s say Sero goes through a Quirk Awakening. Well, what happens? His tape gets better, obviously, stronger, he can make more of it, but what else? Well, he’s already flexible, and I posit part of his Quirk is his joints - like, his Tape comes from his elbows. So he gets more flexible, especially in the joints, but what if the tape needs to come from somewhere else? Well (I’m almost sorry for sharing this, but I had the thought, and I refuse to shudder alone) how about the path of least resistance - his nails? Instead of just finger- and toenails, now they shoot tape too. How about his wrists, or ankles? Spread it to every joint.

What about Tokoyami? Does the bird thing get more prominent? Does he get talons? Wings? Does Dark Shadow change in anyway?

We’ve all posited that Hagakure’s Invisibility could do something crazy - it’s light refraction. Could she change colours? Create illusions? Hell, a laser? Could she CONTROL light, through reflection and refraction? A mirror and a torch, and she can make a mirage?

(Running out of thoughts, so would love to hear your feedback! Specifically, how you think this fits with Touya [both Sports Festival and AfO’s Fuckery] and Kurogiri. Also Tomura, cause, like. Look at him)

-

OH HELL YEAH

Honestly there do seem to be some exceptions to the ‘survival’ thing in a way. Specifically thinking about Toya because even in Canon, his fire went from red to blue out of emotional distress, but not life-or-death(though he immediately wass put in a life-or-death situation right after lmao). And this carries through to Chaos Children, though the circumstances change it’s still emotional distress and pure determination.

Also I totally forgot about the ripping the engines out like OOF but yeah it makes sense that a family of Heroes who have been in fucked situations like that would click on to a way to kinda. Force an Awakening.

But also at the same time, people are in distressing situations like that a lot. Especially Heroes and Villains they’d be getting Awakenings left and right. They don’t always get Awakenings. I actually brought this up recently in Road to Hell! Enji’s first thought on how to deal with his weaknesses was actually to try and force an Awakening in his own Quirk, but decided that because he’s been through distressing enough situations without one, that there must be something else that would trigger an Awakening.

And yeah my thoughts on it are that there’s multiple options for where an Awakening can go! to show with what I mentioned before re: Toya’s different Awakenings and also Kurogiri:

In both Toya’s first Awakening and then the Oboro to Kurogiri thing, that’s an evolution of their pre-existing Quirk. Toya’s Quirk evolves from just regular red-orange fire, to hotter blue flames. Oboro’s Cloud ads on abilities to protect himself and to escape danger, becoming Warp Gate.

But with Toya’s second Awakening in CC, there’s not really anywhere for his Quirk to evolve in terms of just fire. Like in theory it could evolve the fireproofing, but it didn’t have that in the first place. It’d be adding something ‘new’ rather than changing what’s there. So instead the Awakening dug into dormant genetics. Even though it didn’t initially show up on Toya, the bits and pieces for his grandfather’s Quirk are still in his DNA and if he somehow had a bio kid there’s a chance of the Quirk showing up again. So the Awakening tapped into that instead, bringing the genetics to the surface and adding it to his Quirk.

This is what I feel would happen in the latter suggestions you mentioned like Sero getting an Awakening. There’s little room for his Quirk to evolve drastically, so instead it would dig into whatever’s lying dormant in his genetics.

[ah-schwoopsie]

Hello yes it is part 2 of my thoughts as I rewatch Cinderella's Castle.

Cursed Crazy choreography is insane!! I can't dance for shit but i need to learn it right now

Crazy how much they refer to stars and I still didn't pick up on it on my first watch through.

Stepmother literally says that she will have to cut off Ella's legs if she keeps wandering away. I always feel so stupid watching back and seeing all the foreshadowing. Either that or Starkid is just really good at naturally weaving the foreshadowing into dialogue. Honestly it's probably that

'Ive seen a cock. No more trials today gods, I beg of thee!'

During Step On Your Grave, Ella refers to 'a lawyer'. You just know that's no coincidence with Starkid that Jon's character is here in this scene. Who ends up later being a protector of Ella and her revenge, when in Black Friday he plays an Attorney.

Also love the rhyming and timing of the recipes ingredients in SOYG.

I can't wait to see the closeups of Tadius' facial expressions (or lack there of) to The Prince and his, interesting humour, in the proshot.

Mariah is so fucking good in this. She always is but! Something I love is how you can tell how much fucking fun she's having! Very similar vibes to Bully to the Bully in NPMD, but it's the whole musical.

Love how Angela says 'Ella'. It stands out from the rest of her vocal patterns. Reminds me of how Wiggly says 'Stephanie' in NPMD. He stresses the wrong syllables so it comes across inhuman. (best way I can describe it). That being said she says 'Ella' very similar to how I pronounce it as an Australian. But it still stands out as inhuman as it doesn't quite match up with her accent all of the other time.

Rancilda and Putrice constantly accusing Ella of being mean to them or bullying them is a nice swap out of the step sisters traditionally bullying Ella. I don't think either of them actually ever directly insult Ella.

Rancilda's lips quivering when Putrice is accusing Ella of rubbing it in that they have no friends!!!

Cursed Crazy has been stuck in my head all day. Especially the 'you know you're fucked or fated!'

I needed more of Justine and Lucy!! How can we have two characters for less than ten minutes yet learn so much about them.

No shocker at all but how does Bryce, Lauren and Mariah sound that good together!!??

The footwork in Last For Ever!!!?? I need to know who made who faceplant in rehearsal

I had this thought when I first watched it. I wonder how Stepmother was involved in Ella's true mother's death. She must've at least been around as Ella says her father began to get ill soon after. At first I thought it was step mother in true mother's skin suit but it can't be as the Fairy mentions Ella's mother trying to reach her. There's something here but I'm not that good at media analysis to come to these conclusions by myself.

Truly horrific the way stepmother let Ella have a wonderful day with her friends, choosing to wait until she had proper hope of escaping the trolls, to then kill her friends and then let her daughters puppet their corpses around Ella. Reminding her of what she could have had.

Mariah's and Lauren's movement and character choices for Putrice and Randilla when they get the skin suits is fantastic.

Facade is just so good!!! I can't wait til the album comes out. I need to blast this shit on my way to work.

How flawless does Lauren make lifting her leg over Angela look?? And it's so fluid, and she manages to still make it look just awkward enough that you don't forget Rancilda is learning how to move in this thing.

AHH THE CHOREOGRAPHY!!! JUST NOTICED THAT THEY DO THE SAME WALK IN FRONT OF EACH OTHER MOVE THAT LUCY, ELLA AND JUSTINE DO IN LAST FOR EVER

Stepmother crossing her eyes in Facade immediately after telling Rancilda to 'Uncross your fucking eyes!'

Lauren's dancing. That's all.

[eviltiddyprodnz]

Queen Charlotte : A Bridgerton Story Review

SPOILERS !!!! watch out bae <333

honestly, ngl I watched this show only because of the chemistry in the teaser. like the wall scene encouraged me to watch it. Bridgerton is always a little hit and miss for me in a I could not finish season 1 for the life of me but watched the next one like 8 times.

It felt a little too fast paced and people began pissing me off from episode 1 but I reminded myself it was a historical show. Although her brother just signing her away and then saying 'shut up, it's already done' made me so mad ??? like let her react ??? even further down the episodes even when he's concerned, he's like oops sorry, already done now like bitch ??? 😭😭😭 so just #uselesss and annoying !!! I am sorry his little burst @ her got me because she didn't even have time to react !!!

The wall scene comes and I'm practically ready to jump but then to me it felt like the show was going 80 kms/min I was like woah woah woah, why is he saying all the right things... this is just moving too fast. (i want to gloat about being right about being suspicious but the way all i knew i was it felt shady, still had no idea what was coming fr 😭)

they were so cute and tender :'(((( ! like this is what the show kept doing to me till we got George POV. I kept on thinking we were just skipping conversations or moving too fast or just going at it because chemistry !!! but one thing about me, i'll see a romance show through and i'm kinda glad.

the show moves too quickly in the first 3 episodes for me, especially if you're binging it like me. a part of me is glad like yes babe! keep kissing each other (their chemistry is insane!) but the other part is like ??? you're not even going to talk about things. like initially i was even mad that he got to decide when they saw each other and got to be with her with a small ass apology. (the pov episode does so much for us as an audience but my girl was #robbed of many explanations)

they look great together!!! like even when she heard his outburst from the door and thought that he married her and is miserable. you could see both of them really liked each other which is why you keep waiting for an explanation, although i was wondering since they dropped each other's hands QUICKLY post coronation did the king not find it weird that she suddenly is angry ??? maybe i'll catch things on a rewatch. like he's ready and has moved in with her !!! but is not curious that she's visibly angry ???

i also will use this post to say everytime someone is not there in the morning after scenes with their partner, a part of me dies !!! unless they have gone to bring you food, you better be cuddling mate !

i for some reason called Brimsley and Renoylds little romance, i just felt vibes and yet I yelped happily when they started making out while wondering what is wrong with the king lmaooo. #real and also the actual power couple of the show! their interactions made the show worthwhile and i love how both of them were ready to risk all sorts of conduct because of how much they cared for these bozos. trust me their hands slowly touching each other had me waiting breathless because for a second i thought they were about to break up 😭 i wanted to see them grow old together

back to the king and queen shenanigans, honestly i thought that the king had just grown forgetful or just had old people problems in the og show so i was actually surprised when he ran out of the house looking for Venus.

episode 4 is we get George's pov and honestly for a bit my stubborn ass was still not ready to hear explanations till I saw him crumble into his mom's arms and it broke my heart. :( (i do not know what the illness is so i am not going to assume or probably read other posts and learn but it feels like anxiety is always a trigger for it and i felt like leaping in like a protective mother everytime someone put him in that situation)

the actor is so good with tender eyes, like the way he looked at her made me wipe out all of the memories of the earlier 3 episodes and go awwww you love her. that doctor was shady from the jump and just kept on getting worse, like the way i wanted to actually k!ll him. like he actually seemed to be enjoying the torture he was doling out on this poor man... with the obsessive need to tame him like WHEN I CATCH YOU ! (nasty ass loser, like when he spoke about taming the wolf i just knew he was not okay...) practically used the shaving routine as a way to threaten the king! loserrrr

i love that her calling that small dog a deformed bunny is what makes the king laugh (which is a relief to see post doc torture) and is what brings him out of this, and he's like fuck this shit! i'm seeing my wife. both the actors are so gorgeous...

also i am a sucker !!! for POVS and this one came with explanations so i was even a bigger sucker

Renoylds just placing a hand on the king's shoulder did more than what the dumbass doc's aggressive slaps or methods could do...

one night with the queen, one dance with the queen and the king was like i'm all healed up he's just like me !!! he was so in love lmao

then he has the episode and the queen handles it well, but he wakes up alone

the queen was fully right for asking questions but once again like the first heard the conversation through the doors, instead of even slight miscommunication, we get no communication. btw, she's pregnant too (which starts the venus panic in the first place) , blessings ! she actually begins to show a full bump and btw this is where i think the timeline fully goes helter skelter for me because did he just leave her for months and worse did he get TORTURED FOR MONTHS???

my girl is about to leave and a lot happens and i'm running out of word limit so i'll save that for another post but a chat with lady danbury #mygirl pushes the queen into the king's place and she rescues him. I NEEDED THAT BAD like you do not understand for a second i was convinced that the doctor would break him and the queen and the king would never even be able to say i love you, like i thought he'd somehow freeze in that moment right there (it is stupid but like i was actually afraid)

she saves him, they tell each other they love her and like i'm ready to go to war for them atp, they are so tender in the way they hug and you can see relief in his eyes, in her eyes and you let go of a breath you didn't know you were holding.

i love how she lets him heal but more in how she takes care of him when she can feel panic rise and his hands shake and how he calms listening to his voice ( take that nasty violent ass doctor)

the way they lied under the bed and he was afraid he would never be fully there for her and understood if she wanted to leave and she said fuch that! i love you and you're just george, just george to me <3

anyway, i feel a wave of sleep coming because i intelligently watched this at 2 am and it is 6 now but the last two episodes were me just awwing at the screen watching him trust her and himself and be happy with her. i'm so happy he got to share that with her

the children, lady danbury and violet thing I'll get onto later

the scene where the king's mom tells the queen that he's happy because of her is so sweet because it is reminiscent of the dance scene where she also realised he was happy happy.

i love how he swoops his arms around her !!! he's happy and safe <333

also this is where the timeline shakes me up because my girl is already pregnant??? AGAIN??? i feel like he helped her deliver their first baby in the same episode LMAOOOO

anyway text limit warning but yeah i liked it

[cult-of-the-eye]

I watched Maja Ma today and I do this as some form of self inflicted hurt/comfort cause I love me some desi queer people but also AHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGAHHSJSJS

I originally thought the son was gonna be supportive of the mum cause he was from America and maybe more exposed to queer people and accepting attitudes?? Boy was I wrong! I was also surprised that they revealed it so early in the movie and then I realised it was gonna be a forced outing trope and I was SO STRESSED.

I would kill for Pallavi she's wonderful spectacular amazing so sweet and she's such a compelling character!! The trope of queer people planning to run away from their not accepting community but then one staying is definitely a problematic one but also one that I am an absolute sucker for. THE ANGST!!! THE DRAMA!! THE DESPERATION!!! THE HOPE!!! THE FACT THAT YOU WANT TO HATE PALLAVI FOR BREAKING JANAKA'S HEART BUT YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID IT!!! THE DESPERATE WANT TO FIT IN AND BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!! Also she's Madhuri Dixit!!! She literally played her so well she CARRIED the whole movie!!

Every other person in the movie annoyed the fuck out of me. I understand that they were supposed to be flawed but jesus Christ I wanted to punch them through the screen. (Apart from maybe the husband he was so funny I loved pallavis reactions to him trying to be romantic she really was like ??????? and also obviously liked Janaka and the fiancée was an absolutely wonderful person she deserves the world and can do way better than fucking bitchass dickface Tejas.) I genuinely started screaming at the son for trying to fucking convert his mum???! Violently as well?????! Your own mother????? I was ready to DICK PUNCH through the screen let me tell you. I hated the daughter so much. Obviously I get that we're supposed to get annoyed at her but god damn bitch was insane!! Loved it when that one queer person was like yeah her and her straight privilege and borrowed outrage can go fuck right off trying to fucking force her mum out of the closet in an extremely traditional society I was like GO OFF KING. TELL IT LIKE IT IS.

And obviously it's asking a bit much from a Bollywood movie to adhere to western views and language used about queer people and I'm taking what I can get really but god damn I hated the way she went about things and I hated that she was portrayed as an angry feminist gender studies person who's making trouble, like Jesus Christ we've had enough of that we don't want the one accepting person to be portrayed like their insane for accepting them??? I don't know what the purpose of her character was supposed to be?? I guess that line about her being more of a social worker than a daughter sums it up

Honestly girl ate with those speeches!!! I loved the bit where she was like yeah I failed the lie detector test cause they were asking the wrong questions. If they'd asked if she ever had fallen in love with a girl, then she'd gladly fail I was literally kicking my feet giggling at this!!

Yeah the way they resolved the conflict was a little bit childish but I got my comfort and I'm glad it wasn't queer sadness!! It was super interesting seeing this type of story from the mother's point of view, cause usually it's the kid coming out and facing these things and I think it added a really nice level of depth and angst about womanhood and being queer in a traditional Indian society. I loved how it had the quintessential Bollywood dance and song scenes I thought they were lovely!! I especially loved the last shot of pallavi and Janaka dancing together in the middle of the circle with the pulsing lights I thought that was so beautiful!!

Honestly overall this movie was messy and did make me want to scream more times than I thought was intended but the cute parts were really cute and pallavi's depth and character and Madhuri Dixit made it a whole lot better!! 6.8/10

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Welp ok so I generally don’t care about differing fandom opinions (unless they’re egregious misreadings specifically related to Jon Snow’s arc/character), but this article right here is absolutely BONKERS. Like in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. So the title right away is just so…

Why GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire is Bad Literature

Ok whatever, fantasy has traditionally had a hard time being regarded as literature. So this is nothing new. And I don’t particularly care about this argument so moving on…

I love that the first sentence is also just so factually incorrect

Nearly half a century has pasted since Billy Shakespeare has picked up his pen, and bibliophiles are still reading his plays.

Sis probably meant to say millennium but ok 😭 lowkey makes me think this is a joke but parts of this doesn’t read like that ansbjanan

And then the author proceeds to make a pretty bold claim

Traditionally, page-turners are not masterpieces. And that rule still stands when it runs by GRRM’s works. Yet legions of his fans sprout ridiculous praise, such as GRRM revolutionizing the fantasy genre and the diversity of his characters.

But…he kinda did. ASOIAF has had a great impact on the genre (good and bad). Plus, it is really important to acknowledge the sheer diversity of characters presented to us in the series. Characters who would traditionally not get the big focus that they do. Two of our main characters are disabled, and a big part of their arcs is how they navigate a world that is so horribly ableist. He upends the return of the king trope by shifting it to his sister who starts out a child bride/sex slave forced to take on the mantle of a dead dynasty. We have two female characters whose arcs revolve around how gender nonconforming they are but how they are so rooted in ideas of justice and compassion, especially towards the disenfranchised. He upends the revenge of the glorious and noble king by putting the focus on his mother. Et cetera, et cetera. Now GRRM is not without his faults (and he has many), but one cannot in good faith act like he hasn’t given us a different spin on a lot of what fantasy offers. There’s no need to be contrarian for the sake of it.

GRRM, being the revolutionary monster he is, rejects the romanticism of fantasy in favor for realism. He eschews the wonder, the ideals, the heroism, the chivalry, and the subtle social commentary. Congrats, you’re very innovative, GRRM. What did you replace them with?

I just vastly disagree with this and idk where to start.

Case in point. Throughout the series I masturbated to rape scenes, lovemaking scenes, and even a lesbian scene in which a vagina is described as a “Myrish swamp.” Yet in the aftermath of my orgasms, I was left to wonder: where’s all the pederasts? GRRM addressed this curious phenomenon by explaining none of the viewpoint characters were homosexual; “Sorry, none of the characters chose to be gay. Nothing I can do about it.”

Ok the beginning of this section is INSANE. Might just be me but idk why you would even add this to an essay that’s apparently about literary criticism. But I anyway…it is a fair critique that none of our POVs are explicitly non-heterosexual (and we can also criticize some fetishization with female-female relationships), but like the “myriad swamp” thing…isn’t it about power? Like there’s something in that scene that gives us glimpse to who Cersei is and what she craves…idk

Which goes to show, GRRM doesn’t use sex for verisimilitude; he exploits it so degenerates such as I can buy his books. Sure, heterosexual rape happens in war. So does homosexual rape, but its complete absence in the books ought to raise some eyebrows.

The second sentence makes a good point but it’s preceded by what is honestly just a mind blowing statement I- 😭

Additionally, not every graphic sex scene in the books contributes to the narrative. Sometimes it is absolutely redundant. In Dance of Dragons, Asha Greyjoy fucks Qarl the maid, which serves to… Show Asha’s feminine side? Reveal her disdain for her arranged marriage? It obviously didn’t supplement the plot; ten minutes post-coitus, a fucking battle occurs. I don’t understand why it needed to be so explicit as well. Its short appearance in the chapter was awkward, almost entirely random. Yes, sex happens in real life. That doesn’t mean portrayals of real life have to be so ridiculously pornographic.

Wait, this is satire right? Did I fall for it?

Eh, I can tolerate violence. At the age of five, I remember watching from the passenger’s seat as my dad pulverized his colleague by repeatedly smashing his head into the car’s hood and fender, spraying blood all over the windshield. But there’s a distinctive difference between sensational violence and artistic violence. Sensational violence is violence for the sake of violence, for the sole purpose of evoking shock and disgust. It’s tasteless. As bipolar as he is, even my ex-convict padre didn’t attack strangers without reason.

I’m so confused this has to be a bit, right?

No literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors, even the fucking pacing. While there is a climax, the scene does not build itself up to it: there is no intensity in the air, and time is not manipulated. Catharsis is missing, and the only feelings a reader has for Oberyn’s death is shock due to the element of hero invincibility. Don’t people get it? GRRM’s writing is boring.

One of the most confusing aspects of this scene was the death of the stableboy. It’s a great example of sensational violence, because his death seems entirely random and unnecessary. His life was so dispensable, the reader could barely register what they’re supposed to feel: sorrow, terror, or shock? What if the killed bystander was someone important? Violence for the sake of violence, and it comes off as tacky.

No way did I fall for a satirical piece on literary analysis?

This is essentially what GRRM does with Brienne of Tarth. She’s incredibly ugly and described as androgynous; her life was filled with scorn and pity for the lack of her feminine social graces, and contempt and resentment due to her violation of gender norms. But if I was a biologically female transsexual in a patriarchal medieval world, I’d have no fucking reason to dress up and act like a knight, especially if I was an aristocrat (which Brienne is). I don’t understand why Brienne couldn’t stay at Evenfall Hall and be her father’s Castellan or Captain of the Guard. She’s the only surviving child (and heir) of Lord Tarth, so I’m confused why her father would let her roam Westeros as a hedge knight. It’s also never explained why Brienne wanted to be a knight in the first place. She idealizes the concept of true knighthood but you can be just as courageous and conscientious as a lord. Brienne acts like a knight just for the purpose of being a female knight.

I feel like this is a joke 😭

If it isn’t a joke, why does it feel like the author is hating on Brienne for being a good person?

Yet readers claim Jaime Lannister underwent a character arc (approximately 3M words into ASOIAF), since he became easily likable. I personally do not believe Jaime has a redemption arc because his mindset, behavior, and opinions do not change. Jaime is still an arrogant prick, and just because he was written agreeably does not indicate his growth as a character.

I’m dying rn

What passes off as “character development” is actually “perception development.” Instead of putting effort into developing his characters, GRRM decides to warp the reader’s perceptions instead. To make Jaime a sympathetic character, GRRM develops Jaime’s backstory (completely justifying Jaime killing the Mad King) and makes Jaime’s actions more approvable (executing a rapist). The former completely nullifies Jaime’s prospective redemption arc, since it reveals that Jaime was just as “well-intentioned” in the past, and the later does not have noble intentions — as a military man, Jaime expects more discipline from his men than Ser Gregor Clegane did.

?

The way Jaime is written, however, suggests that GRRM intended to build Jaime as a flawed character who matured over the course of the story. Instead we get an impulsive character whose personal inspirations are derived on those who he associate with — Cersei in the past and now Brienne. The same Jaime who would throw Ed Stark’s son out a window for Cersei would encourage Brienne to search for Ed Stark’s daughters. Not because he feels he owes more than an apology to House Stark, but because Jaime befriends Brienne after his relationship with Cersei becomes strained. What’s worse than a misunderstood character is a a character misunderstood by its own creator.

Nah this author’s having a laugh, aren’t they? Like no way they said this with a straight face.

1. Ending a plotline at the climax only leaves the reader unsatisfied and bitter for wasting their time.

A brilliant example is Quentyn Martell, who traveled all the way to Essos to get burned by a dragon. Unlike Ned Stark’s execution and the Red Wedding, Martell’s death did not open any new plotlines. He was a POV character who is completely irrelevant to the narrative. Seriously, George… you chronicled Quentyn’s entire journey to Essos just to bring Quentyn’s two companions to Essos? What’s the fucking point? There were no new characters or locations unveiled to us throughout that entire episode, and Quentyn and his friends could have been introduced later, when they arrived in Astapor

This is a criticism I’ve seen since I joined this fandom over a decade ago. Now it’s definitely understandable to be annoyed with a cliffhanger, especially one that involves a character introduced so late isn’t he series, but there are Doylist and Watsonian reasons to Quentyn’s inclusion. His death has an impact on Dorne and Dany, plus he’s a meta deconstruction of the hero’s journey which we also see with Aegon/Young Griff (who is also, by very much on purpose introduced in the same book) and also Jon, Dany, Bran, etc. We don’t know the conclusion yet, but it’s easy to see why GRRM added Quentyn into the mix.

Writers have all the power when they weave a story, and if they thread the eye of the needle they’re expected to sew up the buttons. GRRM clearly doesn’t know how to sew, because he doesn’t know how to resolve conflicts that he has created. His solution? Kill off the characters with narratives too complex to unravel or too boring to write about. This conveniently creates a vacuum of absent characters to sew together, so when the textile inevitably becomes tangled again GRRM commits another literary genocide. Rinse and repeat.

Idk this doesn’t hold up, like at all? Name one major character killed for the sake of it? Ned is the father figure whose death is meant to push the arcs of his children. Robb’s death is meant to push those of his siblings. Now GRRM himself has stated that he regrets killing character he needed, but this seems like a bizarre criticism. It doesn’t help that the author provides no examples to back up their claim.

The repetitiveness of this ploy just demonstrates to me how GRRM cannot tell a story beginning to end, because he doesn’t have the perseverance and the patience.

Now let’s be fair (and truthful). ASOIAF is not GRRM’s first book. It’s certainly his biggest series but he has written award winning stories before, to completion.

Myrcella Baratheon: “Are you the Sword of the Morning now?” Gerold Dayne: “No. Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night.”

I can see what GRRM is trying to accomplish, but it’s incredibly cringeworthy. Although readers can see the direct contrast between the two characters, the symbolism is not comprehendible. Hence it also sounds very stupid.

Myrcella Baratheon: “Are you a good guy?” Gerold Dayne: “Nah. Men call me epic evil badass, and I am evil.”

HELP

In On Fairy-Stories, J. R. R. Tolkien argues the fantasy genre ultimately fulfills three purposes: to challenge a reader’s perspective of his or her own world, to provide escapism from reality, and to provide moral and emotional “Consolation of the Happy Ending” which he calls eucastastrophe.

Tolkien delves into his third point more into his conclusion, where he focuses how a true representative fantasy tale is manifested by joy. This does not deny the existence of sorrow and failure. But a happy ending emphasizes the final closing in the universal outcome of the story that provides gratification and catharsis to the reader.

ASOIAF and LOTR are two different stories. Tolkien and Martin had different goals. GRRM is not trying to one up Tolkien. Not sure why this take is so pervasive but it is, and it’s annoying.

So after reading all this I have to ask, is this satire? Have I been had? I’m not on twitter so idk if people have talked about this yet but it seems so out of pocket and incorrect, like no one could’ve seriously sat down and written this with a straight face, right?

[theinfinitedivides]

HELLO AGAIN 🙌🏻

was patiently waiting to see your takes on ktl ep 12 because lord what an episode that was.

i paused so much during the last scene just to take multiple deep breaths to prepare myself because istg i was literally dreading the whole thing. god, those maid outfits.. i can't.

the image of the plate breaking and sarang's heartbroken eyes are still so vivid in my mind, i literally cried the moment the episode ended because did i expect conflict and angst? yes. was i prepared for that? nope. not at all.

i feel like it hurts even more because we've had episode after episode of them being madly in love and now we see won seated at the table in his house being served by sarang in a maid outfit with the daughter of the other hotel's chairman sitting right next to him and we hear his dad say he wants them to get married within the year. like wow. that's just a stab to the heart.

absolutely can't wait to see how the rest of that situation plays out, but more than anything, i'm terrified about what's going to happen to sarang for breaking a plate because the manager kept mentioning how "the dream team" never makes mistakes and it's stressing me out.

on another note, that whole scene where sarang opened up about her mom to won at the sea was so beautiful. also, won's reaction to sarang telling him what she found out about his mother and giving him her picture.. i honestly couldn't quite figure out what won was feeling in that moment and don't think he did either. the way he was just so overwhelmed with emotions and had to walk away to look at the picture and process everything.

also, my heart broke for pyeonghwa. her backstory literally made my blood boil. WHO TF DO MEN THINK THEY ARE?

on a similar note, can daeul please take chorong and leave her husband and his shitty family. the amount of patience she has to tolerate the treatment they give her is insane. ofc that's easier said than done though and the heartbreaking reality is the stigma divorce has on women which shouldn't even be there in the first place.

lastly, hwaran. she surprises me every episode because somehow she manages to get worse and worse. terrible mother, terrible sister, full of greed, absolutely heartless, manipulative, cunning.. the list goes on. now she wants sangsik on her side too and i honestly can't predict this one but i'm putting my trust in sangsik. please do not let us down. 🙏🏻

no idea what's going to happen in this week's episodes but to everyone who complained about there being barely any plot in ktl what were you watching, first of all, and i hope you're happy because the drama is drama-ing rn. 😭

love how we're both having basically the exact same thoughts about all of the sh*t that went down over the weekend and now we get to pick it apart while still having somewhat of a meltdown, sksksksk. going to put this under a read more bc i don't know how much is going to be collapsed on the dash and i can almost guarantee that this will get longer than the last two asks i answered although i will try to avoid that, my apologies

i stand by my previous statement that bringing Sa Rang there to that specific meal as part of the Dream Team when the arranged marriage was going to come up was Hwa Ran's doing bc that overlapped too f*cking well to be a coincidence. she knew what that would do to Won, not only bc of his trauma but bc of the way he defended Sa Rang from the assemblyman (when he raised his voice at her *cough*) and she really came out here and said she'd milk that for all it was worth bc he handed that extra weakness to her and f*ck. she's one of the worst people in this series but hats off to her for going for the f*cking jugular and doing it well (and endangering Sa Rang's job in the process, bc hey what happens when you're part of a team that doesn't make mistakes and then you make a mistake? nothing good i'm assuming). i especially hate how this comes after they went to visit the sea and Sa Rang opens up to Won about her mom (and tells him about his own mom in the process, but we're getting there), bc we all know how much she has wanted to work at King Hotel, how much the memories of her mother are entangled with them. working at the hotel is like the causeway in the midst of the sea, the last connection she has where Won has none, and if this plate breaking is part of the catalyst excuse for Hwa Ran to try and force her out of the company (though i doubt that will be the only reason she'll use, we need something more substantial) it will be like the tide has returned and she is back at that beach, trying to go and see her mother, crying bc she is not able to, bc no wind turbine can bear the weight of her, and that will definitely f*ck me up more than anything else has so far. (writer-nim don't do that to me pls i don't think i'd be able to make it)

but Won. his dynamic with the memory of his mother flays me open and lays me out to dry and they really dug into that with the photo, bc the first thing i thought of when i saw his face (notice that we did not see hers clearly enough, that was a strategic choice; are they trying to say that he is a reflection of her in that as well, a la 'and they will recognize all the lines of your face / in the face of the daughter of the daughter of my daughter (son)'?) was Lucille Clifton's brilliant poem "oh antic God", seen below (screenshotted) and linked as well—

really and truly i can't pick any lines bc the whole thing applies (except for the part where she talks about her current age) and i hope you can see why, bc as much as he says he does not want to know anything about his mother i think something shifted when he took the photo from Sa Rang and he saw. Junho does so, so well here with all of the microexpressions, since that is what part of what makes the scene—there's a certain time where you think he could be angry, almost, at Sa Rang for going ahead when he told her he didn't want to but then she tells him that she does not want him to have regrets and he has to walk away from her. be careful or you'll end up like her, Hwa Ran said, unimportant and forgotten, but here is Sa Rang speaking of someone who remembers her, and she was good, and she was kind, and she was brave and beautiful and loved at least, and he doesn't know what to do with that information and we don't either. and so he steps forward, braces himself (i see this as a callback to his stance in ep 3 when he leaves the interview, bc i don't know why everything keeps coming back to that panic attack but i sincerely thought that the way things were going we would get his hands on his knees in the same way), and for a moment i looks like he is trying to say something, anything, lips parted, but there is no sound, no noise, only the single tear on his cheek, and God the camera cuts away from him—

i am trying to be very normal about this but uh. my brain is screaming 'COSMIA COSMIA COSMIA' (Joanna Newsom for the second time my beloved but this version too) interspersed with 'wish i knew / wish i knew the words to this one' and that's kind of complicating matters don't you think

as for Pyeong Hwa and Da Eul—ykw i think they deserve a little murder. they deserve to go batsh*t. just as a treat bc the men????? that they have consistently had in their lives????? no woman deserves that but especially not them. honestly i don't know who i want to go after first Pyeong Hwa's ex-boyfriend (#1 candidate for scum of the earth) or Da Eul's husband (ties for #1 candidate for scum of the earth and who also had the audacity to come out here with his ass and say she'd have bad karma come back on her bc she [rightly] complained about the invasion of privacy his family is perpetuating), but tell me when we decide on one bc i have the ammunition for it. wouldn't be surprised if that mf*cker is cheating on her too bc we did get a partial allusion to that in the earlier half of the series, albeit it could just be him choosing his work associates over his own family and not necessarily having a woman on the side. either way this sh*t needs to stop and i 100% support Da Eul taking Cho Rong and leaving. f*ck divorce stereotypes all my homies hate divorce stereotypes just make sure his ass pays that child support

and now for a bit of Hwa Ran character study to round this off (yay for me i actually followed the outline you set out in your ask asfdgjnlcisdwbkkq). as we continue to observe her and the way she interacts with her father, her half-brother, her husband (who is desperately trying to become her ex) and her son, i feel like the screenwriters are pushing the narrative that even if she is a horrible person she, too, is a victim of the system. and i get why they would do that, bc they do have a point. i touched on it briefly in the tags of this reblog, but i think there's a part of her that is doing these things in regards to the company bc she thinks she knows best. she believes that this is the way to not become irrelevant, not to stoop to the level of her father and her brother in becoming so sentimental at times they lose sight of the real goal (in her view, both times it has been bc of a woman). she puts herself out there so she can have power, since such a inbred, patriarchal society does not listen to you otherwise, and in return she is sacrificing her relationships. and even then, she still thinks that there is no other way to do this and survive. she has convinced herself of this, of so many things, that it has become a part of her, so the minute it looks like she is about to lose her control she looks for the closest thing within her grasp to regain. here, with the inheritance fight, it is the King Group and her leash on Won, and Sang Sik, bright eyed and ambitious as he is, looks like an extension of that leash to her. (after all, didn't he say he's the only one who can handle Won?) considering that Sang Sik has been by Won's side since they met, however, i don't believe he'll switch sides, but more that he'll weigh his options and play double agent in the process since they have spent basically the entire series showing us where his loyalties actually lie (and which she underestimates). tl;dr, Hwa Ran's personal arc is somewhere between Who Are You, Really? by Mikky Ekko, Spite by Vandaveer and Blood // Water by The Neighbourhood, and if they take her the way i think they're taking her (read: she spirals) then she's pretty much f*cked as a result

i am biting my nails rn with regards to the upcoming eps bc hey!!!! this threat of my OTP falling apart for fifteen seconds isn't the plot i asked for!!!!!! i don't need this kind of anxiety i decided against watching Revenant live bc of that!!!!!! just praying we get through with minimal damage that's all i can say

[sepyana]

Jjba Stardust Crusaders Ep. 21-24 Thoughts

I was gonna watch Ep. 25-26 before this but I wanted to make a clean split between the two parts. I peeped into ep 25 a lil bit and it has a new OP and everything. So it will have to wait for now.

Ep. 21-22

Absolute batshit insane two parter. I was gonna write Advol being alive in my predictions because surely if he was the crew would have more of a reaction? Well, I look like an even bigger fool now. How dare the narrative hide shit from me.

It will never not be funny how every 5 episodes or so we'll get an episode that's just Polnareff torture hour. Araki loves putting him in situations.

So... Fun fact! The stand Judgement is translated as "Mahşer" in the Turkish sub, which means bringing all the sould in one place in preperation for Judgement. I can't blame them for this, when translated directly it just doesn't sound nice to the ear. Finding an İslam equivalent is difficult too since there is a thousand fucking words to describe basically the same concept. I went to research for a bit and I couldn't find a concrete translation for it.

The stand itself is a fine interpetation of the Judgement card, I suppose. Rubbing a gold lamp for a genie trope is so overdone, it's abilities are cookie cutter. The design is nice, at least. I don't mind this that much, the episode is barely about it.

The whole time Polnareff is talking to Judgement you are just begging for him to not fall to it's trap. I like how they wrote this sequence. It made me feel upset but not infuriated, which is a common thing that happens in scenes like this. It's in character and it doesn't drag out for long.

Polnareff just accepting his death was actually hearbreaking. Poor guy.

Fortunately, he gets to live another day thanks to Advol BABY!!! You can just tell he was having fun. It must be nice getting to see Polnareff again. It's in ghe middle of a battle but, that's just how it be.

Guys, they put a fucking rainbow in there guys, look, gu-

Yeah this scene was the funniest part of the show so far. While watching I was like "They should piss in there lol" and then they actually did it. Advol was the one that said it too. "The nature is calling" I can't believe this.

And now we get to the part I honestly kind of hate. It turns out rest of the gang knew, all this time. The whole time they met "Advol's father" they were just acting.

They have absolutely zero reason for doing this, like, even Jotaro was acting there. They could have told him when they landed on the island. The whole thing is just so unecessarily mean that it feels out of character. Joseph even says "Calm down, there is no reason to cry" and look. I get Joseph being that inept and Jotaro not giving a shit but Advol? Kakyoin?? The whole thing is written as a joke so it never comes up again.

The first part feels as though it was written as if they didn't know. They don't slip up at all and their reactions seem geniune. It soured both of the episodes for me to be honest. At least Polnareff's VA's were amazing this ep.

Ep. 23-24

I like these episodes. They didn't blew me away or anything but it was good. It's especially good for some simple characterization imo.

The gang is planning to use a submarine to go to Egypt and we already know it's not gonna go well. If this keeps happening every other episode SPW foundation might stop paying for these. I wouldn't blame them.

We finally get to see Suzie Q again, as indecisive as ever (me too girl). They called her effervecent and all I could think of was that stupid twilight post.

Personally, I think Suzie Q deserves to know about the Holly situation but at the same time Holly doesn't want that. I get where she is coming from but it might be the last time you see your mother. The charity even she is going to is sponsored by Smokey, in case you forgot this was a continuation of part 2. I know I sometimes forget.

^ I went in to check the manga just to see the artwork and wow it looks nice. Huge improvement compared to Phantom Blood. Makes me want to read the manga. I do love me some ink art.

I got a bit dissapointed when I realized this wasn't gonna be a closed space mystery kind of situation. I have a soft spot for that kind of stuff.

Our next stand is this... thing. Whatever the fuck this thing is takes the cake for the most insufferable stand. I have very limited knowledge on tarot, I can't see how her abilites connect to the card. She can transform and blend into minerals. It's not the most unique ability.

Not much else of note outside of a few Jotaro scenes, they show his personality well. He stands in front of the phoen for like a minute before givong the most obvious answer. He waits to be alone with the stand just so he can tell her he is gonna be the one to beat the daylights out of her. He sure is. a guy.

The second part is more interesting in my opinion. Look at this scene:

I watched this 50 times. Kakyoin popping up behind him out of nowhere. The fact that they do a 5 second bro shake perfectly. Their eyes going dark like this is the most serious they have ever been in their lives.

I love how the manga did this scene.

The second part has the gang working together. Silver chariot duels the stand to buy time. Heirorphant green holds the crew in place so they don't get hurt. Hermit purple pulls out the Priestess from Polnareff's throat etc etc.

Jotaro going along with Polnareff's plan for him to hit on her was pretty funny. They overdo it though, ending up in a way worse situation.

I like that Jotaro waits to "get crushed" by the teeth before breaking it so he can make it more dramatic. Kakyoin calls him a show off and he is 100% right.

I know some people hate it but I adore how Jotaro's way to solve problems is to just punch harder. Exceptional. Makes Kakyoin's line "She even outsmarted Jotaro." an episode before even funnier.

I am sleepy so I'm gonna edit in stuff later. Super excited for Egypt.

I think Polnareff creeps up on my favourite part 3 character spot more each day.

I have zero idea what's gonna happen next episode so no predictions. Sorry.

[castielmacleod]

I was reading that post about the 12x23 Crowley conundrum and. It’s not that I necessarily disagree with the actor man on his own character but……. lol I kind of do actually. I feel a bit insane over how he doesn’t seem aware of how. Soft? He actually played Crowley sometimes. I mean Crowley definitely likes winning, but idk you can’t convince me that it’s ALL he cared about, especially toward the end. And I think that the growth of the character from just wanting to win, along with the instances where he actually does care about other things are actually very important?

Like I actually do genuinely believe he cared about Rowena. Not on a personal level, maybe, but on a deep traumatised level where he is still desperate for her affection and approval despite everything. I do think that he felt so incredibly, painfully lonely and unloved that he formed a genuine romantic attachment to Dean that haunted him right up to his suicide. I don’t think he ever actually hated Cas at any point, and past season 8 he is actually an surprisingly reliable ally to Cas whenever Cas needs his help. And I truly believe that Crowley actually did on some level want to better himself, to be different. In 10x23 he says he thought that by doing better and making changes to himself then maybe he’d feel something again. He doses himself with human blood throughout season 9, also presumably to feel something—feel things more deeply, at least, than he’s able to as a demon. And of course 8x23 is where we learn that underpinning all of Crowley’s actions is actually an overwhelming desire to be loved. It’s actually kind of notable that it ISN’T the desire to win that comes up in that scene, because he could have had the same break down, cried about how he deserves to win, he just wants to win. It still would have been kind of sad, at least to me. But instead that scene was about love and it instantly added so much more dimension to him. And I think “ultimately just wants to be loved” is a way more deep and compelling thesis for Crowley than “literally does not care and only wants to win” could ever be.

Mark seems to have a very divided view of where Fergus ends and Crowley begins, and in some ways I agree—Fergus is not Crowley. But I think Crowley is Fergus. To me Crowley is, when it comes down to it, still the 8 year old boy who was abandoned by his mother all those centuries ago. You can literally see that little boy on his face when Rowena is talking to him sometimes. That’s why it’s like… even if Crowley thinks he doesn’t care about Rowena, even if he tries to compartmentalise her as Fergus’ mother, not his—he very much actually does care. Visibly. It’s weird to me that of all the people to not really recognise that, it’s the guy actually standing in front of the camera making it so that Crowley visibly cares. Not just about Rowena, but about Cas, and Dean. All people he can’t get over.

And I mean Crowley’s plotlines definitely started getting worse in his last few seasons. By which I mean just fucking awful and unbelievably stupid. They really did strip him completely of his cleverness and charisma and temper and it is a brutal defanging honestly. It’s hard to believe smug permasmile unblinking sits-in-chairs-backwards blatantly gay “under a frigging spotlight” clean-shaven Crowley is even the same physical person as later seasons Crowley and I don’t mean that in a “wow character development” way but in a “oh they literally just stopped writing him” way. And like I’m a very melancholy person so I actually don’t even hate the whole depressive spiral Crowley ends up in, it breaks my heart in just the right way and it’s part of the reason I am so especially attached to Crowley as it is (like I always loved him but as soon as they started making me THAT fucking sad about him. Whew.) I think his depression is something that could have been meaningful to his character development and actually done well if 1. it hadn’t come at the cost of at LEAST his smarts (and I know very well how depression can wipe the floor with you and hollow you out into a shell of your former self, but they literally could have at least let him keep his bloody wits about him if nothing else) and 2. it had actually been acknowledged by the show that yes, he is depressed, and 3. it had led into a real proper resolution to the redemption arc they literally put him on instead of letting it putter out into nothing by making the Winchesters continuously refuse to give him the time of day despite everything he kept doing and giving up for them. If the writers had kept ACTUALLY writing him then the depression would have felt purposeful and not this anticlimatic wasting away until Crowley just kills himself.

(Furthermore not a single one of his interactions with Lucifer should have happened and I mean not a SINGLE one. Just throw all of that out. At a minimum though if Lucifer were to end up in Crowley’s captivity then he would have hacked the bloody hell out of him like he did to Samandriel and Gadreel and that’s that.)

And…. please forgive me for saying this but I actually. God I’m sorry. I actually agree with removing the “even when I lose I win” line in the canon context of Crowley’s death. If Crowley had been better written in s12 I would have no issues but I cannot stress enough that there was literally no winning for him at any point in that season, and ESPECIALLY in his death. I very strongly read his suicide as due to him being miserable and repeatedly rejected by the people he cares about and I think that spell was a convenient excuse for him to get it over with. If that’s just my take then okay, but that is really how it comes off to me. And I mean the spell doesn’t even work right away—Lucifer still has time to come out through the portal and murder Cas before Mary pushes him back in but he literally could have escaped! (And later does escape, when the Winchesters reopen🫣 the portal 🫣🫣🫣 to rescue Mary). And ultimately it all makes Crowley’s entire sacrifice kind of pointless. I’m sorry to say that when he lost he lost. And I will never not be bitter about it

[abla-soso]

I kinda always assumed that Rei's physical assault on Shouto was an unintentional, panic-induced, spur-of-the-moment attack. A psychotic break, so to speak. Her immediate reaction after the attack suggests such.

But then I remembered the scene in chapter 31 and.... this is how Shouto tells it: 「おまえの左側が 醜い」と 母は俺に煮え湯を浴びせた [While saying that] “Your left side is ugly”, my mother poured boiling water on me.

Note the quotation marks, which indicate that these were her exact words. She knew exactly who was before her. In chapter 39, we get more context and she was saying to her mother that she found Shouto's left side disgusting sometimes.

So she didn't confuse him with his father and threw the kettle at him in irrational self-defense. She seemed much more lucid and deliberate. She couldn't stand Shouto's left side anymore, he heard her admit it to her mother, she saw him and just... took the kettle and poured the water on him, while telling him his left side is ugly. It was an irrational malicious attack, not an irrational self-defense attack.

Honestly, Rei's guilt makes much more sense now. She felt guilty for not seeking help from her parents until it was way too late and letting the unconscious disgust and resentment she felts for her kids (the ones who resemble Enji) fester for so long that it exploded out of her in a fit of temporary insanity.

She was undoubtedly a victim of Enji's abuse, and she would have never attacked any of her kids if she didn't suffer from that abuse, but she still did not do the necessary steps - that were available to her - to protect her kids from herself.

The fact that she owned up to her mistakes and didn't excuse herself makes me respect her so much. It would have been SO easy to hide behind the "abuse victim" label to absolve herself completely, especially since it would make her kids forgive her with no effort on her part. But she took personal responsibility and proved that she was always the better, more mature parent.

[auxiliarydetective]

Kassandra Hargreeves' Scenes, S01E02: Run Boy Run (Part 1)

These scenes are actually entirely new. I placed them under this episode because, if Kassandra was actually part of the show, they'd air there, right before the second eyeball adventure.

Kassandra was startled by the knock on her door. She turned around to see Five standing in the doorframe, hands in his pockets.

“Five!” she said cheerily. “What can I do for you?”

“Can I talk to you?” he asked.

He still had that same tone to his voice, that same arrogance that made Kassandra feel at home. Maybe it was the only thing that had stayed the same here.

“Of course.”

Quickly, Five came inside and shut the door behind him. Then, he sat down on the bed next to her. It was just like all those years ago.

“You might want to take your gloves off”, Five suggested. “This will be a lot to take in and hard to understand.”

“Okay”, Kassandra said slowly and did as she was told.

Now, this was different. They had rarely ever had conversations like this. In fact, she wondered if they had ever had one. Five had always been distant, even more than Diego had been. He had never let her tap into his mind this deeply, unless they were on a mission. Whatever topic he wanted to talk about, it had to be very important to him. So, now they sat there, hands intertwined, and Kassandra dove into his mind like a trip down memory lane, only that memory lane had had many new houses built on it. Terrible houses, marked by destruction and death.

“This has to stay between us”, Five said. “Do you understand?”

“I couldn’t tell anyone even if I wanted to”, Kassandra reminded him.

“Do you want to?”

“No.”

“Good. Alright: When I jumped into the future and got stuck there, the whole world was destroyed. Mankind had been killed and I couldn’t figure out by what. But I did find out the date: The world ends in seven days and I have no idea how to stop it.”

Kassandra noticed she had been holding her breath. Everyone else would put this off as madness, especially since time-travel could mess with the mind, but… this was true. This was not madness. She could tell Five was in his right mind and the consequences of that were honestly terrifying. The world ended in seven days? That really was something to take in.

“Are you with me so far?” Five asked.

Kassandra nodded slowly, then quickly. “Yes. It’s… a lot… but yes. I believe you, if that’s what you’re worried about, and I don’t think you’re insane.”

“Good. You’re two steps ahead of Vanya. Now, I have one hint that’s gonna help me figure this all out: A fake eye. I need to know who it belongs to. And that’s where you come in. I need you to pretend to be my mom so I can have some more authority at Meritech, the place where they made the eye.”

Kassandra nodded once again and sighed deeply. “Okay… Alright…” she said slowly. “But if we’re looking for authority, I don’t think I’m the right person to ask.”

“But you can read minds. I need you specifically to come with me.”

“Yes, but… What do we say we get you a father? It would make me feel safer about the whole thing.”

“I’m not telling anyone else about the apocalypse”, Five said dryly. “If you’re not going to help me-”

“I am!” Kassandra quickly cut in. “You know what, I’ll ask Klaus.”

“Klaus?!” Five echoed, shocked and appalled. “He’s constantly high as a kite!”

“Exactly, he won’t want to know why we’re doing this.”

“Kassandra, this is important. We can’t have him mess this up.”

“Klaus can be a very valuable asset. I’m bringing him along, so I’ll be making sure he only engages in his antics when we need them, okay?”

“Are you sure you can do that?”

“Trust me, Five. Klaus and I have always been a good team and if I know anything about minds, it’s that he’s in his right-enough mind for a scheme like this even when high. I just want him there as a backup plan… and as emotional support. I can’t imagine raising a child like you as a single mother, and I say that with all the love I can give.”

Five breathed in sharply, then let out a long, annoyed, heavy sigh. “Fine”, he finally said. “Klaus is your responsibility. But we’re doing things my way, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, then hurry up and get Klaus. And make him presentable. You need to look like a couple. Either you dress like a junkie too or he walks around like the rich heir of a billionaire.”

“He is the rich heir of a billionaire, he just tends to forget that unless he needs money.”

“Raid the old man’s closet, but get going.”

“Alright, alright.”

So, Kassandra put her gloves back on and walked over to Klaus’s room. She knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

When she pushed the door open, she was greeted by a cloud of smoke. Klaus was sitting on his bed in nothing but his underwear, smoking and throwing a ball up and down.

“Kass!” he called out gleefully. A bit wobbly on his feet, he got up from his bed and approached her with open arms. “You here for some quality brother-sister bonding time?”

“Yes, actually”, Kassandra replied. “... Can we open a window?”

“Oh”, Klaus said a little disappointedly. But then he smiled again. “Yeah, of course! I keep forgetting, your lungs… Yeah, you never liked the smoke.” He yanked the window open and leaned out for a moment before returning to her. “So what did you have in mind? Board games? Or do you wanna have a little tea party like when we were kids?”

Kassandra smiled fondly. “A tea party sounds really lovely. You need to remind me of that, we should do that some other day. Are you going to wear a dress again?”

“Of course! What kind of princess do you think I am? You’re always dressed for the occasion, but I’ll have to catch up. Where are we having the party, your room?”

“We- we’re not having it today”, Kassandra said quickly.

“Aw…”

“But let’s say tomorrow? I’ll bake some scones too!”

“Oooooh, scones!” Klaus gasped. “Great idea, I love scones!”

“I know you do. There’s something else I wanted to do with you today.”

“Then tell me already, you’ve got me excited now.”

“Five gave me a little task and I need your help to get through it.”

“Oh, really? What’s that little lunatic cooked up?”

“He wants to find out who a prosthetic eye belongs to. To give the whole situation a bit more authority than a kid waltzing in and asking questions, he asked me to pretend to be his mom. Now I’m asking you to pretend to be his dad with me.”

Klaus stared for a moment, eyes widened. Then he laughed.

“Me? Five’s dad? Authority?! Kass, that’s funny! You do know who you’re talking to, right?”

“I know, I know, but I need the emotional support. Also, I need help getting into the act. You were always good at coming up with things like that. Besides, does Five really look like a single mother could raise him? And me of all single mothers?”

“You would make a good mother”, Klaus said. “Really, I mean it.”

“... Thank you. … Would you please do this with me? Brother-sister bonding time?”

“But that sounds like I have to be serious.”

“You just have to sit there, be quiet, Five will probably be doing most of the talking and I’ll do a little. But if I do ask you to say something, feel free to go wild. Your drug-induced ideas are my backup plan for getting Five his way.”

“So now I’m just part of a plan?”

“You’re my emotional support of choice! You’re the person I feel most comfortable doing this with.”

Klaus sighed. “Fine. But only because it’s you, Kass. In return, that tea party better be the best we’ve ever had.”

Kass smiled with glowing eyes. “Thank you, Klaus!” she grinned and jumped into his arms.

He spun her around a little drowsily, causing both of them to giggle.

“Now, let’s get you something presentable to wear.”

Only a little while later, Kassandra was driving Klaus and Five to Meritech Prosthetics. They had found Klaus some nice-looking clothes, not far beyond his own personal style even.

“Hey, Kass”, Klaus called from the backseat, “what’s our cover story?”

“Our cover story?”

“Yeah! We need a cover story. You didn’t think of that?”

“I honestly didn’t think much further than ‘you’re my boyfriend and he’s our son’”, Kassandra confessed. “You’re the one who’s great at making up stories.”

“So were we really young when we got him?”

“Must have been. I’d pretty confidently say we don’t look older than 35 at most.”

“You especially, you look like a British school girl.”

“Why, thank you.”

“We were young”, Klaus sighed, “and terribly misguided.”

“Terribly”, Kassandra echoed.

Meanwhile, Five crossed his arms on the passenger’s seat. He looked kind of adorable, sitting there as the grumpy thirteen-year-old he appeared to be. Mentally, he still largely was, too.

“Your parents kicked you out because they weren’t happy with the pregnancy.”

“Mhm.”

“We met at… the disco. Remember that.”

“What would I do at the disco?”

“Your friends dragged you there.”

“Okay, yeah, that sounds reasonable.”

“Oh, my god, the sex was amaaaazing.”

Kassandra shook her head with a smile, but Five just scoffed. “What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain”, he said. “Kassandra, if this goes wrong-”

“It won’t go wrong. We even have a cover story now. What could go wrong?”

“Yeah, have some respect for your mother, kiddo”, Klaus said. “Don’t make me put you in time-out.”

[justali-anne]

Undertale characters - Scale of GOODNESS

Scale:

Bad Boi/Gorl/Smol

Dahk Grey

Mehhhhhh

Somewhat Gud

Gud

A Good Boi/Gorl/Smol!

A Fantastic Boi/Gorl/Smol!!!

Frisk (3) - Depends on the route. This kid is capable of anything, from saving all of monsterkind to assisting with the erasure of the world!

Flowey (2) - He is a bad guy for the most part, but he has some redeemability to him.

Toriel (5/6) - She's in between these. What stops her from a higher rating is her hypocrisy and bitterness towards Asgore (which is totally justified). Otherwise, she's an overly worrying mother figure who's been through a lot of crap, and honestly just wants you to be safe (though she could improve her approach a bit).

Sans (6) - I might be a little biased here (lol), but when I look at Sans, all I get from him is silly supportive big brother vibes. He wants the best for his friends and his brother especially and he proves to be insanely loyal to them. He wants to befriend you but if you drive him to it, he will try to stop you in any way possible from destroying the world. What keeps him from being a 7 is, well, his laziness. Also his hesitation to stop you from killing everyone he cares about until you're LV 19. And his mischievous tendencies, of course. Seriously, edgy much?

Papyrus (7) - Need I say more? Okay, actually, yes I will. Papyrus is goofy, supportive, ambitious, loyal, and tries his best with everything he does, even when he's bad at it. He keeps that beautiful balance of being a mature adult while healthily embracing his inner child. He believes in you, even when you don't. He's just... He truly deserves the name he gives himself.

Undyne (5) - She attacks a human child, sure... But honestly, I think she's just trying her best. When you befriend her, she's actually a really good friend. Loyal, supportive, passionate, fun to be around... And she will immediately step in when she can to help others in need. What keeps her from being higher is... well, other than her meanness, the fact that she thought it would be best to kill a child.

Alphys (3) - Alphys is a toughie. She's not BAD, but she's not entirely good either. She's nice and very passionate once you get to know her, and her anxiety and depression makes it super hard to hate her, at least for me. Especially since she sincerely regrets everything she's done. But... experiments aside (which I don't think she would have anticipated), she still has manipulative tendencies and is a compulsive liar. She lied about Mettaton to get her job in the first place, she used Mettaton to be a part of Frisk's story, and she lied to Undyne about things like anime so Undyne would think she's cool. She can actually be pretty dangerous if she applies herself to the wrong thing. But honestly, I don't think she's entirely bad, and she has the potential to become a much better person. She's already proved this when she evacuated all the monsters in the No Mercy route. She'll get there.

Mettaton (3) - He's selfish, egotistical, a bad boss towards Burgerpants in particular, vain, dangerous, has both selfish and selfless intentions behind trying to kill you, charismatic, helpful, caring, simultaneously loves his fans and humans, and absolutely hilarious. When the time comes, he can be rather selfless, like in the Genocide route when he sacrifices himself so Alphys can save more monsters. But he's also pretty selfish, such as leaving Napstablook alone to their depression in order to achieve fame. He's a bit of a mixed bag, really.

Asgore (4) - Honestly just trying his best. He's been through a LOT of crap, okay?! From the war to losing his family and his best friend, is there any wonder why he did what he did? He felt like he had no other choice because he just wanted everyone to have hope. Give the guy a break... And a real redemption arc because we only get to see him for one or two scenes in every route. I feel like more screen time would suffice.

Okay, that's all the main characters! Now it's time to add some extra ones!

Chara (3) - Is it still controversial to discuss them?

Asriel (4) - What keeps him from being higher is his actions during his Hyperdeath high. This kid is sweet and cute, but he can be really malicious when he feels like it. I'll give him some slack, though. He's been through a lot... OF CRAP.

Napstablook (5) - If they would step up more, then I think they would be higher! They deserve a lot of love and kindness after being alone for so long!

Anyway, I'm losing my motivation for this post, so I might make a Part 2. Who knows?

[getmemymicroscope]

Reading the 'synopsis' for this movie on IMDb and Netflix, and expecting that story, leaves you in a bit of a "did I turn on the wrong movie?" shock for the first bit of this movie. I mean, eventually it does turn to that, but the first like 20-30 minutes has seemingly nothing to do with that (of course, eventually it sorta ties together, in a 'it's the people that matter, not the events' sort of way), but yeah ... confusion.

And then, somehow, after that, it becomes even more frustrating when things develop super slowly and it turns out to be one of those annoyingly stupid and preachy family dramas (a 90s Bollywood staple), led by Dilip Kumar and, even more annoyingly so, the mother.

I mean, Bollywood - especially then - loved the whole 'family' angle and the 'devout wife in face of a jackass husband' thing, so obviously they introduce her as doing a Karva Chauth fast/festival for the husband that threw her out and ignored her and their son. Worse yet, though, is that flashback scene in the courtyard - the one with the death - where she just hams on to fucking annoying levels while they're fighting over a gun. Almost got her son killed in the process too, no less. Because "he betrayed me and treated me like shit, but I must still worship him and you must worship him as a result too," or something stupid like that. And before that (chronologically after) where she slaps the shit out of her son for standing up to his uncle after said uncle humiliated Rekha's character in front of everyone. And also when she, in the scene with the confession, won't fucking shut up about "no, he didn't do it." Or, back at the courtyard, after the deed is done, the whole "no, no, you can't admit it because I can't live without you." You're his mother! Stop being so fucking dramatic!

Honestly, for all the absurd stupidities in the movie (the songs - god, the songs; Gulshan Grover trying to blackmail his wife - wife? - into committing murder for him; Rekha's leg; the horrific editing, especially during the court scenes, but also that scene where it's night/dark out and then when she throws the gun into the ravine it's daylight and then it shifts back to them and is dark again), the mother is the part that literally almost makes the whole thing unwatchable. She's just that damn annoying (which, I realize, is probably insane to say because that's like every 90s Bollywood movie, and I grew up watching/loving those). But god, she's so annoying - literally that courtyard scene where they're fighting and she's just yelling made me literally curse at the movie. I was that annoyed by it.

I know they're bad, but when Kunika gets tricked into naming Gulshan the killer and then learns the truth - the sadness that they both convey with their acting upon realizing what she's done, it almost makes you feel for them. Like, yes, evil and he murdered other people and she's clearly bad, but like, their sadness seemed so real. Which makes sense, he's about to go to jail, but still - you almost feel for them. Even more so after spending two hours intermittently having to hear the mother.

Mukul Dev as the lead actor - interesting. He unfortunately gets bogged down by horrific songs (if you want to call them that) and his mother/family drama (mostly the mother's drama, it feels like - she causes/creates more drama than everyone else combined) and that really weird love story between him and Mamta Kulkarni which is made very awkward early on when her father refers to them as a perfect "brother/sister" relationship (it's a joke, of course, but still... really?).

That first song, man - it was less a song and more just 'words said while music played in the background.' The shit you have to sit through to watch a whodunnit ... sometimes, you almost start wondering if it is really worth it. (No worries, it is. Most of the time.) And that damn mother, yo. Pain - pure pain.

[pynkhues]

it always bugs me so much when you get takes on YT like "everyone is rooting for Logan because his kids are so spoiled" and beyond initial reactions of wtf is wrong with you, he has a huge hand in making them that way (as he's used to degrade them)? it's like a learned helplessness mixed with... like when you have to grow up so fast (especially Shiv, whose mother decides she's complicit at 13, and Eldest Daughter Syndrome Kendall), you stay stunted, more like a five year old than 30-40. hope this made sense and wasn't just rambling

Oh gosh, you're braver than I am for wading into the waters of YouTube comments, hahaha, I feel like they're generally a hotbed of Bad Takes.

But yeah, it's insane how there's this cognitive dissonance for some people to see the way Logan's sabotaged his own children – I think especially after 3.08 where the show made it explicit. Kendall tried to do exactly what Logan said he wanted + what people (namely Stewy and Naomi) have been telling Kendall to do since s1 and get out, only for his Dad to tell him no.

It's such a clear, concise and achingly painful demonstration of the sort of father Logan is. He grinds his children down until they know exactly how unwanted, incompetent, and pathetic he thinks they are, but when they try to take the exit he offers them, he yanks them away from it. He wants them there, broken in like dogs or horses, in the cages he builds for them, and it's one of my favourite things about the show that that doesn't make some glossy haired, broad shouldered hero to root for, but rather four complicated, broken people who have no idea how to survive on their own, because their father's made sure they couldn't.

And like you said, Caroline's no better. The pairing of Caroline and Shiv's scene with Logan and Kendall's was honestly pretty close to TV perfection, and it created this amazing sense of how they were adultified as children and are now infantilised as adults. Like you said, to make a 13 (or 10! There's no saying Caroline's not the one misremembering) not just complicit, but blamed for her own abandonment is insane, and abusive on such an insidious level, it just makes me the flames gif from Clue.

The floor rots out from under this family, and while the siblings play their part in their own self-sabotage, that rot was spreading long before they were in the picture.