#things are messy enough

[blazeeblake]

Having lived through that one show with that one ship that ended in super-hell, rebar heartache, watching everything go down with the emergency response show is both 'I can't stop scrolling' levels of interesting to me, and super, eerily familiar. Obviously, it's not a one to one, shot for shot redux; in fact, I feel like the trifecta of a network change, an actor who seems very respectful and mindful of people seeking responsible media representation, and the actually canonization of a bi-coded character's bisexuality are pretty uncharted waters that I find surreal in the best of ways (though not too surreal; this show has always had some good rep I can get behind). But, the fallout of all of this unprecedented stuff is just about what I came to expect back in the day. The infighting, the clashes between opposing ships that can have valid points AND get taken too far (on either side); the very valid and intense hope that longstanding, built-in narratives pay off after way too many (largely network-imposed) obstacles, right alongside the very valid fear that nothing will pay off because when has it ever? It feels like deja-vu all over again and honestly I hope some tide changes so that stops being true, because I have seen things get sad and nasty in other instances and I don't want that for people just trying to chill out with some fiction. This is probably going to sound (more?) annoying, but I don't necessarily have a horse in this race. I know what I want to happen, both for my own gratification and for reasons that have more to do with narrative satisfaction, but I'm not gonna jump at anyone who doesn't agree or see what I see. I'm just a funky lil college dropout who knows her tropes, and has probably never used a semi-colon properly in her life. I also feel like I kind of fall into the camp of doing my damnedest to shove down my hyper-fixated hopes because man have I been burned in the past. My best, largely unasked for advice is to tag your stuff accordingly, hide/block the things that dampen the enjoyment, and hopefully have a good time on this current rollercoaster. I didn't like how the last big shipping thing I cared about ended, but what a ride it was.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy Valentine's Day! (and this blog's first post anniversary!)

[aulerean]

please hold :)

[shotbyacowboy]

it's 4 am so i'm not able to have proper thoughts and opinions on dragons rising right now but it slayed super hard. anyway men kissing

[mintsuwu]

I keep putting too much effort into shitpost art but I honestly have no regrets-

Alternate and possibly more accurate version under the cut /hj

[a-s-levynn]

iv & iii

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Linda Flynn-Fletcher

I think Linda Flynn-Fletcher is potentially one of the most misunderstood characters in the show.

It think comes from a natural enough place. Her role in the show is of course, to act as the potential threat to their summers of fun. While they boys never see her as a threat, narratively she's the big bad. If she sees it, its game over.

Here's the thing though. She's a not a bad mom. Her children LOVE her. Similarly to how Phineas and Ferb absolutely adore Candace and would do nearly anything she asked, Phineas, Ferb and Candace all love and respect their mother and don't disobey her. Now a bit of this is clearly Linda being a more permissive parent, but any rules that Linda has Phineas and Ferb never do anything to disobey their mother. While I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two instances where Candace disobeyed her mother willfully, the closest I can think off off hand is Candace not doing a bunch of chores that she was supposed to do. Really, the fact that all her kids love her, shows how much all her kids feel loved in their household. And I think that's super important. Candace wrote a song about how much she feels loved by her mom, even if her mom is dismissive of Candace. But she still goes with Candace to see what the boys are up to even if she doesn't believe it. She sets boundaries on how often Candace can bust the boys sure. But she hasn't forbidden Candace from doing it altogether. Nor does she punish Candace for presumably lying?

At MOST Linda will say something like: "let's get you out of the sun" after a failed bust. The worst of it I think is probably the time Linda made her promise not to try or suffer the Pharaohs curse. Which, was just some guy in a Pharaoh costume telling Candace curse you. Linda goes out of her way to read books to try and deal with her daughter. She and Candace still clearly hold a lot of affection for each other and do spend a decent amount of mother daughter time together. Linda gives books to her daughter, tries to direct her to other activities, and finds her sleep busting cute, and sometimes goes out of her way to do activities her daughter wants to do with her. All things considered Linda is REALLY patient about Candace's busting. Could she be doing more to get to the bottom of why Candace is presumably acting out? Sure. But Doofensmirtz could also be doing a better job of listening to his daughter and not insulting her (or do we not remember why Vanessa wears earbuds around the house) but we all call him a really good dad.

A LOT of shows have kids hiding a secret from a parent for one reason of another. But while the crux of the show rests on Linda not knowing what her sons are doing, its not because its a secret. The boys aren't hiding it from her. The boys genuinely believe she knows. Lawrence genuinely believes she knows. Candace is the only one in the family who really grasps the situation.

Linda's ignorance, her disbelief of the wild shenanigans that her children get into is easily mistakable for normality. For representing the oppressive day to day. The same thematic antagonist as school. A mom who wants whats best for her kids, and thinks that whats best for them is them being normal, without realizing what's really best for them. After all why else we saw what would happen if she found out in Quantum Boogaloo. But the fact of the matter is aside from that one future (which also featured an effectively evil leader in Doofensmirtz, and therefore implies more factors at play than just Doofensmirtz and Linda's characters), we don't really know how it would play out in the long term. Future Linda even just kinda moves on after discovering the truth.

Linda is exactly like her kids. She just does the same things on a less physics breaking scale. The woman has like 37 different hobbies. She takes a cooking class, donated an art sculpture, is part of a jazz group. She has a background in astrophysics. She was a pop star. She won a meatloaf contest. She takes french lessons. The fact that Linda has several hobbies is part of the reason the formula works at all. Linda is constantly trying new things which gets her out of the house, while her sons are trying their own new things. Her absence is what prompts Candace to have to go looking for her. Also, What Do It Do when the moment Linda gets put in Candace's position she acts the exact same way.

Also it's why she and Lawrence are so compatible. They have a lot of weird hobbies they spend together. She likes Lawrence's history references. They watch car racing together. They went spelunking together. They go bowling regularly enough to have equipment. She has played the bagpipes while Lawrence danced (which sidenote: do you think she taught Candace how to play the bagpipes?).

Not to mention her extended family. Think about it. Her mom was a competitive roller derby skater who once bit a skate and shook it like a dog with a chew toy and pulls elaborate pranks with her identical twin. Really she's a lot like Candace with her aggressive passion. Her dad apparently won a balloon race, but tells the story in the most straightforward way possible, sometimes very oblivious, but is overall a lot like Phineas. Her sister is an adrenaline junky. And back to Quantum Boogaloo for a minute: Her granddaughter is just like Candace, Grown up Candace is a lot like Linda. Do you not see the implications!!?!?!? LIKE???? DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT LINDA WAS PROBABLY A LOT LIKE CANDACE AND PHINEAS WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER?!!?! YOU THINK IT SKIPPED A GENERATION OR SOMETHING???

Do you think Linda used to complain about Tiana??? Do you think Linda thought her family was weird and was embarrassed by them??? Do you think Linda ever called herself the only mature/normal member of her family?? LIKE CANDACE DOES????

Anyway, Linda is just like her family. Sure, she is RELATIVELY more normal, but that's relative, and probably simply because the universe bends itself around to keep her from knowing. Linda literally cannot find out about the real nature of her universe. Linda is just a grown up version of her children, seeking to make the most of each day, but within the bounds the universe has set upon her, both as an adult woman and mother, but also in the laws of physics expected of her. But she still makes the most of her life. You don't have to build a roller coaster to make the most of each day and all that.

I think if Linda is representing anything its that even parents can have rich fulfilling lives. Where they make the most out of each day. Having fun with your life doesn't stop with adulthood. Even if you have more responsibilities doesn't mean you can't have fun? Sure childhood is something you can't get back but growing up isn't inherently bad either?

[incorrect-riordanverse]

It's really disheartening that Rick Riordan stance on the war I understand that he wants to be neutral on this stance but in my opinion by becoming neutral he only worsening the issue as many Palestines are dying that are mostly children, how the majority of Israeli are supporting the Genocide of Palestine, and how the government is trying so hard (but miserably failing) to justified the genocide. I will hold him accountable for what he said on this issue as during this period the choice is basically "you are with us or against us."

Part of me wishes he will realize what he said was wrong and understand the bigger issue that plays at hand. I will criticism for his actions as how can a man who promotes LGBTQIA and representation of minorities and disabilities in his books turn a blind eyes to Genocide of people. However we can only wait and see on his next move.

One last thing about your previous you said you don't group Riordan with other authors where do you would group him with? Also this is more on an opinion base answer but many people are boycotting companies that support Israel there as been another post on Twitter on boycotting authors. Rick Riordan happens to be one of them. Do you believed that he should be boycotted with other authors or he should be properly educated and apologized for his previous statement? If you believed he should be boycotted what do tou have to say to those who might have the mentality of "separate the art from the artist"

thank you for this ask, and i completely agree with you! it is extremely hypocritical of him considering what he preaches for in his books. i think he’s convinced he has properly addressed the apartheid by using very vague language that can be applied to anything, and in doing so, he’s addressed nothing really.

your first question on who i would group him with— probably other authors who are doing the exact same as him in their virtue signalling. i always like to link my other blogs to each other, so i don’t think it’s a secret that i have a red queen account and i’m pretty passionate about that. unfortunately, victoria aveyard is another fantasy author who has literally wrote a whole four-book series on the uprising against oppression but is now playing neutral in her address of the apartheid. rebecca yarros is in the same boat, although i haven’t read ‘fourth wing,’ fans have said there are large themes of oppression within the book. so if i had to group riordan it would probably be in the ‘i-like-to-write-about-it-for-profit-and-praise-only’ group.

in terms of boycotting, i think that’s a great idea! i would also like to remind everyone that the percy jackson tv show is coming out in a little over a month, but disney is a huge industry financially supporting israel as well ($2 million in funding), which is obviously far more damning than a poorly written address by one person. there is a boycott happening for disney as well— and the pjo show will be released on disney + . i implore everyone to not watch it on that platform!! personally i will be pirating it online (idk if i’ll get into trouble saying that here but lol oh well), because im pretty sure the boycott is only for withdrawing financial support, not simply consuming media.

i feel like separating art from the artist only works if that artist is… like, dead, and you’re using that art and its values as a historical insight to how the world was during its time. you can still like a piece of work that has a problematic artist, you can engage with the work (to an extent). but separating art from the artist barely works because either:

to engage with the art is to support the artist in some way, so that artist is making money based on your interaction with that (particularly in the case for singers and streaming of songs)

that artists’ views and values are so rancid that it’s literally embedded within the text itself. to ignore it is harmful.

harry potter is my all-time favourite example to use, because jkr is the scum of the earth, and her views are entrenched in her work. a lesser known example is sarah j maas and her books (she’s also not as dogshit as jkr, but then again, its not hard to be a better person than her). i’m not going to bag on these people for liking things by problematic people (would be hypocritical of me), i just think it’s cowardly not to address it when you come across it, or at least admit to it. to simply write things off as ‘separate to the artist’ is like purposefully turning off your critical thinking skills.

on whether boycotting or an apology is enough— if riordan did apologise and used specific language and not the nonsense he had in that blog, expressed his remorse for his ignorance and then actually did or said something to support the people of palestine then, yeah. that’s fine and that’s how we learn ig. but he should educate himself, too many activists, people from the arab community and especially palestinians are expected to be all-knowing and to educate everyone else on an already draining and personal tragedy. it’s been exhausting for me, i can’t imagine what they’re going through. if riordan (or anyone) needs to be educated, he should do it himself, and (at least in my opinion) i don’t think the info is very hard to find now. it’s just about weeding out the misinformation.

i think boycotting is a good idea as of now. it can serve to be a catalyst for self reflection for many people. also, as much as i hate most online discourses, talking about it online needs to happen. i don’t want these authors to forget, for a moment, about the ignorance they posted online during a time of international crisis.

[bonefall]

Tbh I never read that far in DOTC but I heard so much about star flower from fandom that now hearing about it directly from you I feel so cheated. I was promised a femme fatale.. tho in hindsight considering how much these writers hate women I probably shouldn't have gotten my hopes up

I WISH we got a femme fatale. It would have been incredibly cathartic for her to make herself alluring to Clear Sky, turning his worst traits against him and getting both power and revenge. For Thunder to bond to her over it, reaching the conclusion in the end that they both had terrible parents that they need to reject.

but, knowing the Erins, they would have just had Clear Sky kill her violently and gratuitously for ever tricking him. Like how he gouged Willow Tail's eyes out. So... I guess we were doomed either way.

Anyway im cooking

[cellgatinbo]

#1 bastard of egg island

if the islanders can’t do it i’ll end this motherfucker myself

[baihujun]

Hey

[inusmasha]

Inuyasha was so deprived of connection and kind gestures were few and far in between. If any? He could probably count them using one hand. So those moments must stand out in his mind like a pop up card. And when you’re deprived of something vital it tends to be all you think about. So I wonder if he was constantly looking for kind smiles, or the slightest possibility of connection. And how it must of been exhausting being in that constant state of looking. And needing. The strong urge to /look/ for love because they know that it’s not something that would be just inherently be /given/ to him. Idk. That’s sad. This desperate hollow feeling is something I think is vital to understanding his character. Like you have to understand how deep those wounds go and how it somehow gave them the capacity to love that deeply as well.

The story as a whole revolves around how crazy our capacity to love is and how important those bonds are, for better or for worse. Das it.

[mcwexlie]

why is there not enough discussion on saul and skyler’s relationship… they should’ve interacted more in canon but like. think abt it

skyler is this competent blonde woman who’s extremely smart and good at scamming (and pretty! and associated with blue!) and she has the biggest dipshit husband ever.

saul who is oh so desperately trying to keep his unloving sleazeball act up is failing bc. my God does this woman remind him of kim in the saddest way possible (ntm they start interacting more post gale death, when shit i’d argue really starts falling apart… Hmmm). he still acts like a dick to her but… in a protective way i feel. like he doesn’t want her to be nice to him or get close to him but still showing he has her back in his own fucked up way

and saul being soooo pissed that walt bagged this perfect woman and he’s still being a disrespectful shit like saul might be misogyny queen but even he was weirded tf out w walt…

[opens-up-4-nobody]

God. The thing abt the uchiha is that. Yes. It was fucked up that no one trusted them and they got pushed further and further from the village center. However. They were also a clan of ninja cops with fucked up magical eyes that they supercharge by getting horrifically traumatized. So like. I also would not fucking trust them.

[criminal-sen]

speaking of wips, here's an almost-exact-redo (but not really a redo, more of an alternate version idfk) of that one art I spent fucking forever on a while back. Cuz. Cuz the other art didn't convey what it was supposed to, which is that the viewer has been fucking Spotted, and I was thinking of it in the context of a video game, like with a little HUD and shit, and then it'll shift into a horror series (yes it's a series) and uhhhh yknow, you get captured and experimented on and shit. and I have a thousand other things I should be doing instead of this lmfao

Future Sen here: I finished this! Here it is<3

[alatariel-galadriel]

finished dead boy detectives! first of all, what a fun watch. I loved the entire ride, and the showrunners did a fantastic job of bringing a rich and intricate world to life.

It’s not perfect—I think it has some minor issues with pacing and a bad habit of over-explaining via dialogue, but the actors did an *incredible* job and brought so much charisma and heart to the show that it was easy to overlook. there’s a brilliant balance of humor and genuine emotion that made it so easy to fall headfirst in love with the world and all the characters in it

I would really recommend giving it a shot if you haven’t already!