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halliescomut · 7 months

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Naughty Babe Ramble

There's gonna be spoilers up to episode 4...just so you're aware.

I've been really stuck thinking about this past episode and sort of where we are about half-way through. I know for a lot of people, Naughty Babe is just silly fun, and there's also plenty who just wave it off as campy semi-BS. And while the show is certainly set up to be more silly than serious, I really have been engrossed by the new glimpses we've gotten into Yi and Diao now that they're at the center.

I loved them as a couple in the Cutie Pie series, though I had some concerns, mostly things that I've been able to abandon now that we've gotten a bit more insight into Yi's mind specifically. Cutie Pie is very much Kuea's perspective, and therefore pretty knowledgeable of Diao's personality, but less so of Yi.

And while I was somewhat suspicious of what we were going to see after the trailers, knowing about the whole amnesia thing, I'm actually pretty satisfied overall. Both because the amnesia didn't last for the whole season, but also because they clearly recognize that Diao knows Yi well enough to figure out he's lying. Like I do agree that both Lian and his dad would figure it out first, just because Yi doesn't hide so much from them, but I was concerned they would set Diao up to look a bit like an imbecile, and he is so not.

I'm gonna start by talking about Diao, mostly because he's my favorite, but also because if we recognize that this show is mostly Yi's perspective, then I'm so happy they're still showing Diao as feisty, and cute. He's still shown as a little shy, but I think he's definitely guarded around Yi, especially right in this time, so it makes sense, that he sort of reads it that way. One of my favorite things about Diao in Cutie Pie was that he was clearly just as strong-willed and self-aware as Kuea, but where Kuea is more brash, Diao is just a tad softer. But his softness isn't weakness (I fucking hate when people think that) and we're continually given glimpses of his strength, both mentally and physically.

His practice and teaching of Taekwondo is clearly part of that, it's a martial arts style that has a heavy focus on meditation and mindfulness, but also philosophy of how you should behave as a citizen of humanity. It's also listed often as a potentially good option for self-defense in those that are of smaller stature (which Diao is). It's a martial art that I think is well-matched to the character, in that it's both strong and elegant, with a focus on moral character.

The series so far shows Diao as mainly admirable...which is great, but it also speaks to what Diao is so frustrated by. He's not a piece of art, he doesn't want to be set on a pedestal and admired, he wants to be loved. He's been clear in his passion to Yi in the past, but it's Yi's that's stuck in his own head about what if's and so they aren't able to progress. And so now we're 3 years in the future, and Diao's wondering if he read everything all wrong.

So moving on to hia Yi...I know you're trying, but god, do I wish that you would just get it together. I understand that the root of his behavior is all fear. He's afraid that the past coming to light, and his connection to Diao's trauma will cause DIao to hate him...and dude...if you pulled your head out of your ass and actually took in the person that Diao has become you'd see that it would never happen. I know he's drowning in the guilt of what happened with the tiger/puma/dog/jackalope (depending on when and where the story's being told)...but if you think Diao would learn that and not recognize that you were a 15 year old child who made a horrible mistake??? Diao has so much empathy, and Yi knows that, but he's still can't comprehend that that empathy also extends to him for some reason.

As flawed as the man is, and honestly as poorly as he sees himself sometimes, though usually glossed over by the sheen of narcissism, he can be such a good man. In all of this universe, I've always been a bit meh on Max's acting, I'll be honest. He's fine, but I've always felt like because his character was so staid that I wasn't engaged, especially when Zee and Nunew and Nat were given so much more expression and emotion. But this last couple of episodes really, but especially number four, he has really been doing some great work.

He's both solidified a lot of aspects of the character as well as bringing new depth. The nightmares talk and panic attack scene were really so good. Him just laying there as Diao talks about his nightmares and his eyes are just full of so many different emotions. and then when the panic attack really kicks in, his overall concern is not disturbing Diao. You don't have to have an internal monologue to know exactly where this panic attack comes from, and it's portrayed really well in my opinion. Of course everyone's experience will differ, but my sister has an anxiety disorder, and really her feelings as she's described them and her physical condition as I've watched her experience these attacks...they match up pretty well.

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In a lot of ways I do feel like we are seeing a little bit of the same character arc for the couple here that we saw for Lian and Kuea in Cutie Pie, with both Lian and Yi afraid that somehow they're being selfish in wanting their relationships with Kuea and Diao respectively. I think it's something that stems from their age difference, this knowing that there is a lot of opportunity out there for them, and are they sort of clipping their wings? It's a bit different for Kuea and Diao, but it does boil down to both wanting to be truly seen for who they are. For Kuea it was about reconciling his 'true self' and knowing that Lian loved him still. With Diao, I think it's about being seen as himself, but also being seen as someone worthy of being a true partner to Yi, to stand beside him. I think Yi's tendency to coddle him and lie to him has caused him to assume that Yi doesn't believe he's capable of handling the truth. And in a bit of a match to Kuea, since they've always been these sort of biddable, polite people (which is based around the cultural expectations especially in relation to their age difference), will there still be love and affection if they're assertive of their own needs/desires? For Kuea the answer was clearly yes, which Diao knows, but I think Lian was also a lot easier to read for Diao than Yi. It's also complicated by the fact that Diao is also afraid of what he might see, and so I think he chooses not to.

My last little part isn't really about character, but more about how wildly uncomfortable I was watching the interactions between Diao's family and Yi and Diao. It was both awkward and insanely infuriating. I felt so insulted on Yi's behalf, watching this family treat him like little more than an open wallet. And don't even get me started on Diao, the way I know he was so embarrassed by their behavior, not just because it's so icky, but also because it makes him wonder "Does hia Yi think that I'm in this for his money??" I also kind of hated it because hia Yi clearly values family, and I know for certain that he's glad that his own father has such strong love and affection for Diao, to not be seen equally by Diao's family probably really hurts.

(I'm sorry this was such a ramble, but I have a lot of random feelings about the show.)

#Naughty Babe the series #Hia Yi x Kon Diao #Yi x Diao #Max x nat #MaxNat #Max Nattapol #Nat Natasitt #Thai BL

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aaronymous999 · 5 months

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OKAY SO IM ABOUT TO RANT ABOUT MY OCS BECAUSE IM BACK OBSESSING OVER THEM-

Also if there's any conflicting information that's because I'm still working on my universe and I don't really have set lore yet! Which I'm working on!

Name : Nathaniel Osborn

Pronouns : He/Him

Age - 15

He's Norman Osborn's son and Harry's younger brother, one of the experimental spiders was accidentally released during a showcase that was meant to show people Oscorps ability to potentially cure the rare blood disease that runs in the Osborn family using genetic material from certain species. And it bit Nate. Making him have webs built into his wrists, the ability to stick onto things, spider sense, camouflage and regenerative capabilities.

After a few months of crime fighting as Spider-Man, Norman figures out his son was bitten and tries to rush the spider experiment, the first had taken decades to perfect, which turns him into Green Goblin because he meshed his genetic material with certain reptiles. He loses his mind and kills Nathan's mother, then disappears.

Nate becomes very emotionally distant and afraid to become close to others because of the experience with his father, he loses a sense of morality for a while and goes down a dark path his brother brings him back to the light. Now, he's very strong about his morals and refuses to go 'too far' with his vigilantism, he refuses to work with the police and has a lot of sympathy for criminals who steal to survive or are unable to escape their lifestyle because they were born into it.

In conversation he's a bit dry and his humor is very 'knock knock' 'who's there' 'the interrupting cow' 'the interrupting-' 'moo.😐😑😐' because he fails to understand a lot of humor and sarcasm, yet he's also semi-sarcastic unintentionally. He doesn't like speaking publicly or in large crowds of people, and tends to like comfortable silence more than talking to others.

He's not that gifted academically and cheats off of people in school a lot, which gets him in detention often, he tends to have a problem with authority figures.

He isn't aware of Miguel's Spider Society. But, if he was, he wouldn't agree with Miguel and would try to find a way to save everybody.

Name - Spider (They don't like their bio name and so chose this as a nickname of sorts)

Pronouns - They/Them

Age - 20

Spider is an alien from a planet that's very technologically advanced, but their species repress emotions a lot and have a lack of understanding about empathy and sympathy. When they finally come to Earth, after being in an incident in an asteroid field which makes their escape pod crash land onto Earth, they try to become more sympathetic with Earth and scrounge around for a while before meeting Nate.

They form a sibling dynamic and Nate eventually convinces Spider to begin fighting crime as a Spidey duo! Spider has much less of a moral compass than Nate and only does it to keep their friendship alive, as Nate's too busy with his time being kept by crime fighting and school, so they decide to tag along for the vigilantism so that they can spend time together.

They have a romantic relationship with their universe's Black Cat, this leads to some conflict with Spider-Man who has major problems with the fact that Black Cat doesn't need to steal and is doing it for greed rather than survival. Spider's a lot more violent when it comes to criminals and typically has to be held back by Spider-Man as to not result in the death of somebody, they also have to be hidden from the public eye, including Nate's brother Harry despite the fact they all live in the same house.

Sometimes they may eat rats or birds in New York alleyways because their species stomachs can't actually handle vegetables, fruits, or cooked meat, only raw meat, and they prefer to eat things alive.

They understand English but can't speak it too well, instead they're very expressive with their movements and noises to make up for the lack of communication. They don't mind attempting communication but after a while if someone can't understand them they get frustrated and storm off.

They are aware of Miguel's Spider Society and turned down joining it, although, they do agree with Miguel's morals of keeping the canon intact, and so they won't prevent a canon event from happening if they know it's about to, no matter the heartbreak it'd cause. This is because they think one or two people dying is a far better outcome than the entire universe.

OH MY GOSH I LOVE THEM… Spider especially! And I always find Spider-People and Black Cat ships interesting.

As for how my Spiders would interact with them/befriend them I have a few ideas, although realistically they would never speak but if they did happen to meet here are some ideas! ( If you like any of these a lot I could probably bullshit an idea to how they could actually meet :) I know you responded to like one of my posts earlier idk if this is actually what you wanted to hear in response very bad at reading people LOL )

Aaron Allan would be kind and polite to Nate, and maybe even like him a little but there would definitely be a sense of unease considering Nate is Harry’s brother and all. Aaron’s universe’ Harry is a shitty person and a bully, so seeing someone that looks so much like him would probably freak Aaron out a little bit. With the Spider on the other hand, Aaron would feel incredibly uncomfortable due to Spider’s more violent methods. Aaron probably wouldn’t have the guts to say anything about it but might confide in Nate with his worries about how far Spider goes.

Miles Morales would probably think Nate is pretty cool, as he does with any superhero who is older than him, he’d look up to him and probably adapt to some of his opinions if he got super close with him! He’d be a little weirded out discovering Nate is the kid of Norman Osborn, but he could get past it. As for Spider Miles would probably be disapproving of their methods but respect them nonetheless.

Cindy Moon would sadly hate both of them, she’s pretty aloof in general and doesn’t trust any other spiders that aren’t apart of her universe. She’d probably be harsh on Nate and tell him to go harder with his job, and critique Spider for how harsh they go. The two would have the distinct feeling that Cindy could never be satisfied with whatever they did.

Peter Parker being a tech guy wouldn’t be able critique Nate or Spider’s crime fighting, but Peter would probably get along with the two as well as he gets along with anyone. Which is badly because Peter is super awkward and would probably be barely able to communicate with the two of them without accidentally saying something rude. He’d be panicking at every interaction lol.

Mary Jane Watson is rather aloof and awkward around people as well, but I think she’d be able to get along with Nate pretty well after getting some time to get used to him. As for Spider, MJ probably wouldn’t be weirded out or anything, she’d just be kinda awkward around them and probably wouldn’t know how to start a conversation and the two would just never talk lol.

Gwen Stacy being the energetic of her Spider trio would be super excited to meet more spiders! Although she’d probably consider the two “gloomy” even though that’s not really the case for them. Gwen would probably make it her mission to “get Spider out of their shell” and fail spectacularly. She’d try and rope in Nate into helping her but I can’t imagine that she’d succeed.

I think Emilio is very similar to Nate and Spider, which is why I think he’d silently vibe and get along with them. He wouldn’t talk much but he’d be willing to listen or work with them when needed. He matches Spider’s more violent methods which might cause some conflict between him and Nate, especially because in Emilio’s universe, nobody is stopping him from putting criminals and villains in straight up comas.

Asher would probably be super adamant about recruiting Spider into the society as one of Miguel’s righthand men, but would be rather disappointed once he failed. He doesn’t like people whatsoever and after this would just ignore and avoid the two of them to avoid social interaction as much as humanly possible.

Liz is a pretty friendly person, although her Goldweaver persona is a lot more laidback and quiet, she would probably get along with the two of them pretty well, although she’d be carrying most of the conversations with Spider. I think she and Nate could be pretty good friends! I don’t know if they’d have much in common but Liz can literally make friends with anyone so I think she could do it!

Nancy Ghoul would totally be down with Spider’s vibe and probably get along with them a bit better than Nate. Although a lot of it would be Nancy thinking that Spider is super cool looking and badass, but she’d never admit that. Anything or anyone that matches her Nancy vibes and her Orbweaver vibes? Immediately awesome in her mind. With Nate however she’d probably stay as her quiet and stoic self as she struggles to communicate with like average humans from a time period that’s not her own as she worries about sounding “old”.

Owen well uh… let’s just say that he would really dislike Spider. Owen is one of my more openly a bad person Spider OCs, and he’s pretty awful and discriminatory because of that. He works for the US government who could have guessed that he wouldn’t like aliens all that much. On the other hand at first Owen would be very buddy buddy with Nate, considering the fact that in his universe, Norman Osborn is a politician that he directly works with. However once he would discover that Spider and Nate work together, he’d be disappointed in him and stubbornly try to change his mind and spread his hate to Nate.

Lena is a very charismatic and manipulative lady. She does what she wants and gets what she wants and what she wants is power. So she has a way with getting people under her thumb, although I doubt that would work on either of these two. Lena is working to increase her following of Spider-People to create her own society and overthrow Miguel. And I really don’t think either of these two would be able to get behind it no matter what manipulative stops Lena would pull out.

Whether or not Tobi likes the two would be completely dependent on if they shared her love of music and her campaigning for human rights. Tobi would DEFINITELY be skeptical of Nate considering who his dad is but she doesn’t like to judge a book by it’s cover. Spider on the other hand she probably wouldn’t be able to read or figure out what they’re thinking. Tobi is just left confused and distant.

Billie and Annie are a bit of a package deal, although I think they would have very different opinions on Nate and Spider. Billie would probably get along with the both of them a lot more due to her general optimism. Annie on the other hand would probably just want to curl up in the corner or lean on Billie’s shoulder while they talk since she’s a massive introvert and hates the Osborn family…

#aaronymous ramblings #spiderman #spider man #spider-man #aaronymous ocs #oc #ocs #across the spiderverse #atsv #spidersona #I love Nate so much…#I do like Spider as well but Nate is definitely my favorite I love the Osborns and their drama

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twinge-of-cosmicangst · 11 months

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what are your hopes for the final episode?

Gonna go by character I guess

Kendall- Kendall has always been a favourite of mine, I have liked him less this season, that’s not me saying he’s been OC or anything, I just think it’s his natural progression now he hasn’t got the moral of high ground over his father. He is becoming his father, he is the epitome of “the cycle” some people think Shiv is most like Logan, some even think Roman is, but to me it’s Kendall, and always has been, and it’s even more evident this season. When Ewan said that he and Logan had a meagreness about them, but the the difference between them is that Ewan tries to be moral, whereas at some point Logan stopped trying. Meaning that once upon a time Logan was a better man, which I think can be somewhat backed up by Connor the eldest being somewhat softer then the rest, perhaps Logan was not as brutal with him, if somewhat absent because of his obsession with his career (remind you of anyone) and then 15-25 odd years later his youngest son is physically beaten by him. I think when Ewan made that “he stopped trying” statement about Logan, the audience was supposed to think about Kendall. Despite his faults Kendall has shown genuine empathy multiple times throughout first 3 seasons and yet in season 4 he grows more and more cold as he literally tries to become his father. So the natural conclusion to this is that he becomes CEO but he is deeply unhappy and his soul is basically ruined and his whole family inevitably hating him. That would be a sad ending for Kendall fans, but it’s honestly hard to imagine another one for him, other then perhaps suicide, which I think is a possibility. So out of those to options I’d guess I’ll say CEO? I don’t know, the other potential CEO that I think could happen is maybe Tom, which would not great for him in the long run either but ultimately not as thematically tragic.

Roman- I honestly have no idea what Roman’s end game could be, I’m not even sure what I would want for him, that probably has something to do with the fact that he has never been one of my favourites, yet I do feel empathy for his character, Logan abused all his children, yet Roman was the only one he physically abused, to be singled out like that must be traumatising. I think he is slightly more likely to get a somewhat happier ending then Kendall (idk why I just feel it in my waters) and yeah he’s not my favourite but I don’t hate him, so I’ll be fine with him getting a neutral ending, perhaps working at Waystar (not CEO) and befriending Gerri once again?

Shiv: I am 99% sure that Shiv will not be CEO “American” or otherwise, I think pretty much all the other mains (aside from Connor) have more of a chance becoming CEO. This is not because I’m secretly a internal misogynist, neither do I think she will not become CEO because of her “Lack of experience” No the reason I think she has no chance is because of how the last episode ended Lucas telling her he can make the “American CEO work” was basically a neon sign saying “Matsson may be able to get an American CEO to work but it sure as fuck won’t be Shiv” that’s just how narrative convention works. Matsson is shady as fuck and it’s been kind of obvious that he’s been playing Shiv the whole time, she is aware of this and she has been playing him too, but she is only aware to an extent because when her mind is so close to the prize, I think she gets a little carried away. It fluctuates but at the moment Shiv is my second favourite character, and what I want for her professionally is what I’ve wanted for her since I watched season 2 and that’s to go back into politics. Connor has always been a bit of a scrounger (I love him though) and Ken and Roman of course have always been in the family business. Shiv was the only one to make a career for herself (yes she had a huge amount of privilege to help her build that career) but still she had a career that was hers not her fathers, not only that but she was a democrat, while her father has a hugely intimidating and influential presence in the conservative landscape, I never see anyone talk about how brave that was (even if it was somewhat to spite him lol) and yet after years of apparent resistance Logan managed to reel her back in, and we saw she was as desperate for his approval as her brothers were. The scene where Logan persuaded her to take her picture with Menken is one of the most devastating in the show imo, she was so reluctant but she did so for a promise of Waystar and Logan’s approval. She clearly had some passion for working in politics and she appeared to enjoy her job. This hope for her is fruitless though because it is the last episode of the last season so in terms of profession, my hope for Shiv would be that she ends up at Pierce, or perhaps goes into business with Roman (could they maybe work better together without Kendall, maybe it would be a disaster idk) I think there is more of a chance that Shiv gets out then there is for her brothers (she actually knows there is life outside of Waystar from 10+ years of a different career) also as she is my favourite of the siblings she is the one I want to escape the most, as I think working at Waystar (living in the haunted house) will end in misery for any of the siblings and I do want Shiv to be somewhat happy. In terms of personal I want Tom and Shiv to officially end it (although I think that’s unlikely this point) I’m not even talking from a Tomgreg perspective, Tom and Shiv clearly make each other miserable (I do believe they do love each other though) and I know them being miserable together is part of the appeal for a lot of people (hand in unloveable hand and all) but I would personally like them to put themselves out of their misery for good (honestly it would be better for their child as well) Speaking of the baby, I do not want to speak of it much because it is basically pointless as a plotline as we’ll never actually get to see the thing (unless they flash forward Harry Potter style “Logan Roman Nate Wambsgans you were named after the biggest sicko I’ve ever known”) I am not someone who was dead set against Shiv getting pregnant (in fact I thought it was a real possibility with some of the hints we got in season 3) but upon finding out that Jesse added it in last minute, it only makes me think the whole plotline is rushed and pointless and if the whole point of it is to bring Tom and Shiv back together, then dear god 🙄

Connor and Willa- These two’s married life seems to be going well (Yay I love Conwilla) and I think it is highly unlikely that they will randomly implode in the last episode, if they do, Jesse, I will Annie Wilkes your ass (For legal reasons this is a joke) but as the last episode is going to be very Waystar centric, Conwilla will probably be minimal, my main hope for them in the final is they get more screen time then I expect and that I am presently surprised, and that they are happy. Career wise it would be nice to hear how Willa’s playwriting is going, and I honestly don’t have a preference whether Connor is going to remain in politics or go back to “ranching” whatever tickles his pickle. What I would like for Connor though is a little, just smidge of affection from the sibs. GIVE US A SIBLING HUG WITH ALL 4 SIBLINGS YOU COWARDS! I know that the sibs care for Connor in their own way, but he doesn’t (he literally said no one loves him and none of them bothered correct him) Not to bring up the Tomshiv babby again but I can’t believe Matsson heard about it before brodad 🤮 the injustice. Please let at least one of the sibs have sweet moment with him. Please 🙏

Tom and Greg- Saving the best till last baby! I do genuinely want the gay art gallery date (real ones know) it is possible if somewhat unlikely. Other then that I do not expect Tomgreg to go canon but I would like them to have a decent amount of screen time (like proportionally the same as episode 8 which would be more screen time then episode 8 because episode 10 is 1/3 longer then episode 8, if I’m making sense) dream would be to have proportionally the same amount of screen time as episode 1 but that is unrealistic (episode 1 felt about 40% lmao). I would obviously like them to end on good terms, and I want them to be working together! I think Tom is a genuine possibility for “American CEO” he has experience, and Lukas may just do it to fuck with the Roy siblings. Matsson seems to genuinely like Greg but even he wouldn’t make someone like Greg CEO, under qualified is an understatement, the markets would freak, but maybe he would settle for Tom instead, maybe Greg persuades Matsson to name Tom (that would be the dream) I do think being CEO of Waystar inevitably leads to misery for anyone who becomes it (to quote Gerri “the job that makes your brain explode”) but like I said it’s not as tragic with Tom, because he won’t have the corpse of his abusive dead father breathing down his neck. Ultimately I would like Tom and Greg to be somewhat ok and working together and remain besties, wouldn’t mind Tom becoming CEO but idrc. If I’m being realistic I think Tom could end things in a really bad place unemployed? Publicly shamed? Getting arrested for cruises?? Lmao the last one is unlikely but not impossible, but I don’t want any of those things to happen, because he’s my favourite character and I don’t want him to be completely miserable, but I can deal with somewhat miserable, he kind of deserves it. With Greg I think he is the most likely out of the main characters to end up in a good place career wise (although again not CEO lmao) but it means nothing to me if he is in a good place career wise but estranged from Tom, so yeah Tomgreg to remain besties is really what I want for them the most (cheesy I know) a little bit of homoeroticism wouldn’t hurt either but I refuse to get my hopes up.

It just occurred to me while writing this that I said I wouldn’t mind if Tom became CEO but that I also said if Kendall doesn’t become CEO he’ll die! That is perhaps a bit extreme. But what I’m saying is that I think that out of all the characters Kendall is the most doomed by the narrative and will have a tragic ending no matter what, and hoping that he doesn’t his somewhat pointless, the only good thing that I can bring myself to hope for Kendall, is that his relationship with his siblings isn’t completely destroyed by the end of the series and that they are still on speaking terms.

#sorry for ending on a low point lmao!#Kendall roy #Roman roy #shiv roy #conwilla #tomgreg #Connor roy #willa ferreyra #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #succession #succession spoilers #succession season 4 spoilers #spoilers

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kcyars520 · 1 year

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‘Vanderpump Rules’ Finale Reveals Scandoval’s Brutal Aftermath

Season 10 finale of the Bravo reality series saw Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair get exposed via some of the rawest exchanges you’ve ever seen

Marlow SternMay 17, 2023

Season 10 finale of the Bravo reality series saw Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair get exposed via some of the rawest exchanges you’ve ever seen

If there is one big takeaway from Vanderpump Rules, other than that you should never allow your fella to go on a guys’ trip to Vegas or give Katie Maloneytequila, it’s this: LA men are the worst. They are by and large an unruly mob of deceitful, lecherous, ignorant, hard-partying narcissists who only care about the next shiny thing. They’re like the Jan. 6 insurrectionists if they were all hypebeast dorks armed with vape pens and the Capitol was an IG influencer’s panties. And among these Angeleno d-bags, Tom Sandoval stands alone — an empty vessel of a man who is only interested in feeding his outsized ego. His partner in life and business, Tom Schwartz, is a Renfieldian yes man who allows Sandoval to steamroll him at every possible turn. If he feels his closest friends or girlfriend are outshining him (see: Ariana’s cocktail book, Stassi’s book party at TomTom) he will either bully his way in or throw a puerile hissy fit. If you so much as question his nefarious methods, he’ll mutter a few “dude’s” and “fuck-off’s” before turning it right back on you. He is seemingly incapable of accountability or empathy, and, to quote Kentucky belle Brittany Cartwright, he can rawt in hail.

With that said, we’ve finally arrived at the Season Ten finale of Vanderpump Rules and the aftermath of “Scandoval.” For the uninitiated, “Scandoval” refers to a tectonic plate-shifting event wherein Sandoval conducted a clandestine months-long affair with Raquel Leviss, the best friend and confidant of Sandoval’s partner of nearly a decade, Ariana Madix — an elfin, extraordinarily loyal former sketch comic and the closest thing the show has to a moral conscience. To make matters worse, Sandoval and Ariana had recently purchased a pricey home together and were in the process of fertilizing embryos; Sandoval had previously helped plan a luxe engagement party on the Coachella grounds for Raquel and his good mate, DJ James Kennedy; Raquel’s been aggressively pursuing Sandoval’s BFF Schwartz on camera, in either a case of deliberate misdirection or a clumsy stab at making him jealous; Sandoval had turned Ariana against her bestie and business partner, Katie, over the Raquel-Schwartz imbroglio; and Ariana had just lost her beloved dog and grandmother in quick succession. Oh, and Ariana learned of the affair by stumbling upon a saved FaceTime video on Sandoval’s phone of him and Raquel masturbating to each other.

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Last week’s penultimate episode was supposed to be the original season finale, but once the affair came to light in March, Bravo picked up filming to capture the fallout. And now we have one more messy, messy episode. The devil works hard but Andy Cohen works harder.

When we last left the crew, Raquel confronted Katie (and shaded her delightful mom) over her weird Schwartz offensive at SUR, causing Katie to go full Mob Wives on her (it was glorious), Sandoval to curiously rush to Raquel’s defense, and Ariana to cry on Lisa Vanderpump’s shoulder because she felt caught in the crossfire. Earlier, Sandoval attempted to guilt-trip Ariana over them not having sex even though, between opening his strip-mall tiki bar Schwartz & Sandy’s, butchering famous songs with his cover band Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras, and sneaking around to bang Raquel, he’s been checked out of their relationship for the better part of a year. The audacity.

Episode 15 of this season, titled “#Scandoval,” opens with Ariana and Sandoval both describing the moment Ariana discovered that Sandoval and Raquel were having an affair the likes of which we’ve never seen on reality TV before. As the story goes, Sandoval was performing with his joke of a cover band at his bar TomTom — which he owns 5% of but thinks it’s 100% — when his phone fell out of his pocket. Someone handed it to Ariana, and she went through it.

“In his camera roll I found a screen recording of Raquel and Tom on FaceTime. My stomach dropped into my fucking ass,” recalls Ariana. (This is the aforementioned video of the two getting their rocks off to each other, which Sandoval apparently recorded, which is very sucio, and deposited into his spank bank.)

Raquel was in New York City filming Watch What Happens Live with Scheana and, after Ariana texted her about her findings, Scheana remembers how Raquel nonchalantly turned to her and said, “Yeah… Sandoval and I have been having an affair for seven months. Ariana just found out.” Scheana, who’s been one of Raquel’s most ardent defenders, is flabbergasted. There’s no way Raquel could hang a TV in under seven minutes, that’s for damn sure.

We return to Sandoval and his off-putting mustache. He reverts back to his preposterous shtick about how he executed this obscene betrayal because him and Ariana weren’t “happy” in their relationship, while Ariana doesn’t mince words: “I learned on Wednesday night that there are evil, evil people in this world, and sometimes they’re the people closest to you — and you have no idea.”

These two LA strivers are still sharing a home, though, presumably because Sandoval has refused to move his ass out. Cut to Ariana chugging wine out of the bottle and commiserating with a friend, while Sandoval stalks around the place in furry sandals with AirPods in like a divorced ghost. Maybe he’s listening to Ben Shapiro, one of the only people on earth with a voice more grating than his.

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“Do you want anything?” Sandoval asks her. “For you to die,” Ariana replies (!).

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It’s been two days since the big reveal, and Ariana shares that Sandoval still “hasn’t said sorry for what you actually did,” which is astonishing even for him. Then, Ariana reads him for filth:

“I’ve been with you for nine years. Back when you lived with Schwartz we became friends, when you were literally fucking, like, wearing combat boots and skinny jeans and didn’t have a dime to your name, driving a 1997 Honda Civic. I loved you then when you had nothing. You got a little bit of money, a little bar, a little band, and then this girl is gonna act enamored with you, like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so, oh…’ Because that’s what you want, right? You want someone to just gas you up. That girl is searching for identity in men. She has no identity of her own. She’s willing to stoop so low as to fuck one of her best friends’ life partners, and that’s someone you think is, like, a good person you should be around?”

A Mortal Kombat-worthy Fatality from Ariana, and what we all needed to hear.

“Me and Raquel became, like, really good friends,” mumbles Sandoval, ever the gaslighting weasel.

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT FUCKING RAQUEL!” Ariana screams, drowning out his whine. “YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!”

“NO, IT’S FUCKING NOT!” Sandoval shouts back, adding, “Well, guess what? It’s real because she treats me with fucking respect — something I haven’t gotten from you in a long time.”

Sandoval proceeds to emptily complain about how the relationship had run its course, they “had no sex life,” and he’d lost his “mojo.” (What is this Austin Powers shit?) He, as is his wont, refuses to take responsibility for the terrible thing he did and proceeds to exhaustingly justify the unjustifiable.

So, Ariana comes back for seconds:

“I regret every moment that I stood up for you, defended you, supported you. You’re worth nothing. And I want you to feel that deep in your soul. I want you to hear those words coming from the mouth of the woman who stood by you, and loved you, and was ready to build the rest of my life around you. Hear my words and know that that’s how I feel about you. I regret ever loving you. Any last words before we never speak again?”

All of this, by the way, has transpired within the first ten minutes of the episode. This thing has more wall-to-wall action than the opening of Face/Off, which boasted a child being accidentally assassinated at a Griffith Park carnival (?), Nic Cage planting a nuclear bomb in DTLA disguised as a horny priest, and Nic Cage feeding peaches to a honey-trap FBI agent who’s curiously dressed like Martha Stewart — before shooting her in the back.

But alas, I digress.

Next, we see Sandoval enter Schwartz’s sad breakup apartment — the very place where he would often get down with Raquel — and witness Sandoval, sporting gold lightning-bolt earrings for fuck’s sake, hug Schwartz whilst pushing out some of the most fraudulent tears ever put to screen. Schwartz has, by his own admission, known about the affair since the summer, so this entire exchange feels bogus. The big takeway, I suppose, is that Sandoval continues to try and blame Ariana for his ugly misdeed, and Schwartz is still a spineless coward who refuses to check his guy and is mostly preoccupied with how their bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s, is being review-bombed on Yelp. (May I remind you that Sandoval “borrowed” $250K from his firefighter-mom’s retirement fund to help bankroll the very bar whose reputation he lit on fire?)

Ariana’s pals console her at her home. Scheana is among them, even though Scheana firmly backed her influencer-pal Raquel in Randoval’s twisted campaign to tear Katie and Ariana apart, and has been far more invested in adopting penguins for twenty-something fuckboys than having her girls’ backs. Ariana reveals that Raquel told her the affair began after the girls’ trip to Vegas/Havasu — right after Ariana’s dog, Charlotte, died — and that Raquel said they’d only kissed after boys’ night at the Mondrian, but Sandoval, when pressed, admitted that the two “fucked in her car that night,” with Ariana adding, “And he didn’t have a key to get in [the house], so he had to ring the doorbell and I had to let him in.” Even Katie is speechless. Give this lady a few shots of Clase Azul and her mobile and let her cook.

Scheana tells the group that, post-Watch What Happens Live, she shoved Raquel after learning of the affair, and Raquel is claiming she punched her. In a truly hilarious moment, Scheana claims this is an impossibility because she can’t make a fist with her long nails, while making a fist with her long nails. Ariana’s pal Logan grabs the wooden penis flute from Playa Del Carmen, which has apparently been displayed on Sandoval and Ariana’s living room shelf like an Academy Award (Rihanna did call it “easily the best clip on TV,” after all) — and breaks it in two over his knee. Very on the nose! Then again, so was that cursed penis flute.

The action turns to DJ James Kennedy and Ally the aspiring astrologer. DJ James Kennedy says he isn’t mad at Raquel, but rather Sandoval for being a “backstabber.” This is pretty rich stuff coming from DJ James Kennedy, since we all know he went behind Sandoval’s back to shtup Kristen — “in my bed… with my condoms,” Sandoval once said — right after the two had broken up and when he was about to move in with Sandoval so they could make unbearable music together. He’s also a vile, crybaby misogynist. So, he can sit this one out.

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Cue Lala, who cuts through the BS as always: “He did this to Kristen. He did it to Ariana. And guess what? He got bored with Ariana, he wants to go be with the sloppy drunk — and she’s fun — and he got off on the fact that he could sneak around. You think this is the first time he’s been creepin’ around?”

She continues: “I think that Tom has been hooking up with a lot of people. A few years ago, I heard the rumors that Tom and Billie Lee go off and do whatever they go and do. We need to open that case back up. It got cold, and I don’t think it need to be cold no more!” Put Detectives Lala and Kristen on this immediately. (Billie Lee is the trans SUR hostess who popped up in Seasons Six and Seven.)

Sandoval and Raquel meet up at her apartment, and she has her Galaxy Night Light on, making the whole exchange resemble a scene out of Spring Breakers, but a whole lot dumber. Raquel might be the worst brand ambassador for the Galaxy Night Light ever, and that’s really saying something. They say they love each other, but, like most of the words out of these two conceited people’s mouths, it doesn’t ring sincere in the slightest. The sequence as a whole is more cringe than the leg-knife selfie Scheana snapped in Playa.

In her one-on-one interview, Raquel, who has a tiny scratch on her face and a slight bruise under her eye yet is acting like she went 12 rounds with Canelo Álvarez, says, “I was just so curious to know what it would be like to be physical with someone that you love, because I already knew that I loved him as a friend, and I’ve never had sex like that before. I should have completely removed myself from the situation, but I did not have the willpower to not see him.” Yuck. Tom Sandoval isn’t capable of loving anyone other than himself, Rachel.

After this nauseating display, we are transported to Heaven — Villa Rosa, where Lisa Vanderpump is playing with her dog, Puffy. Ariana enters, and Lisa does her best to console her.

“On the other side, there’s going to be something beautiful for you,” LVP says. “You know that.”

Katie confronts Schwartz, who lies through his teeth that he only learned about the affair “a month ago.” Following some light grilling, Schwartz confesses he knew “about the one-night stand” after that night at the Mondrian, which happened last summer, prompting Katie to say, “You’ve been his bitch boy for, like, how many years?” (Get his ass, Katie.)

Enter the OG chaos agent herself, Kristen Doute — who is shot in slow-mo, from the legs-up, like a horror movie villain (in Nike slides!). She greets Ariana and requests “an alcohol.” They venture to Ariana’s backyard, where Doute presents a breakup goodie bag containing a tuning fork, a giant crystal dildo (?), and amethyst. She has Ariana scribble messages on paper about “that which no longer serves you,” only to have her light them on fire and stomp them out. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, life is beautiful, so slay we must,” Doute chants. It’s The Craft spinoff we never knew we needed.

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Sandoval enters Villa Rosa, and Lisa’s in full-on funereal mode, wearing all black. Sandoval spews more nonsense about a supposed plan to come clean about the affair before the show’s reunion, and Lisa continues to treat Sandoval with kid gloves — just as she’s done for years with DJ James Kennedy. Sandoval pushes out some more fraudulent tears, and Lisa seems to fall for the Daytime Emmy-winning performance, though I doubt anyone else will. “You’re not a bad person, Tom. You just did a bad thing. Make sure you know that,” Lisa tells him, despite all evidence on her show pointing to the contrary. At this point, LVP needs to literally slap some sense into Sandoval, Stassi-style. It’s the only way to get through to him.

All the gals congregate on the rooftop of the trendy Hollywood hotspot Grandmaster Recorders, where Scheana tries to make it all about Scheana by weeping over Raquel’s temporary restraining order against her — but then Katie reveals that she’s made Schwartz join so he can personally apologize to Ariana for his part in Scandoval. Ariana tells Schwartz that Sandoval “apologized to the business before he apologized to me publicly, which is, like, pathetic.” (Hard agree.) Schwartz tries to claim he’s being unfairly “painted as this co-conspirator” in all this drama, even though by all accounts he knew about the Sandoval-Raquel tryst since summer; was sneaking off on double-dates with Kristen’s friend Jo, Sandoval, and Raquel; and the smoking-gun FaceTime video was taken at his apartment.

“Look, I don’t think that you are that person,” Ariana tells him. “But I will not have mutual friends with him. So, I’m not your friend anymore.” (Ariana, he is that person.)

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While everything up to this point has been A1 reality TV, the episode’s coda leaves much to be desired. It ends with Sandoval and Scheana weeping together as she grills him, and Sandoval saying even more terrible, blame-y things about Ariana on-camera that are so shameless they’re not worth repeating here. Why is the final scene of an otherwise gripping hour-plus of television between Sandoval and Scheana? Who cares about the two most self-serving people on Vanderpump Ruleshaving a heart-to-heart? Unless Scheana makes Sandoval and Raquel cameo in one of her music videos as punishment, I don’t wanna hear it. How great would it have been if the episode closed with Ariana and Katie opening their lovely-sounding feminist sandwich shop, Something About Her? Or Kristen giving Sandoval the business? For any true sense of closure, we’ll have to tune in to next week’s reunion — the first of three parts, airing weekly through June 7 —where the fireworks will rival Rachella.

Jerry Springer may be dead, but his spirit lives on.

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mataglap · 10 months

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Hello, I would very much like to hear your Hank/Connor thoughts. Please do elaborate if you feel so inclined <3

ha. it's nothing particularly deep, but sure! in this essay I will

first of all, they have chemistry in spades, more than enough for a ship to be born. now, I'm absolutely not going to begrudge anyone the father/son relationship if they like it, they are valid, more power to them, but I've also seen some of those people act like Hank/Connor shipping is somehow morally wrong, and that's shitty on so many levels, starting with the obvious ageism.

and since we're talking about ageism... Hank is 53, for fuck's sake. he's been made to look about 10-15 years older than he is, which can be blamed on depression and alcoholism, but he's still only 53. he's a middle-aged, attractive (self-neglect notwithstanding) man, perfectly capable of forming a romantic relationship. defaulting him to a fatherly role, ESPECIALLY while he's grieving his actual child, simply feels wrong.

and Connor is not a child in need of a parent either; he's an artificial intelligence in a pseudo-human body, capable of both empathy and remorseless actions up to and including murder. (I enjoy the fandom concept of RK900, but I find it highly amusing that he's widely regarded as the 'asshole' version of Connor, as if Connor isn't quite a cold asshole himself.)

so, we have two lonely social misfits with a lot of chemistry between them, working together and bonding during a time of serious societal upheaval, both of them ready to take a bullet for the other in the end. what's not to ship here?

#detroit become human #hank/connor #hank anderson #connor rk800 #in this essay i will

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fox-buried-in-maple-leaves · 3 months

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omg and this also with katsumi. please :3

Ask Game!

When have they been unable to save someone or something no matter how much they tried?

There are many things Katsumi knows he doesn't remember. Thoughts in the back of his head, these small glimpses of times that are mostly a haze. But he's woken up in the day with blood on his hands and his face on posters. And he wonders how many people he couldn't save. How many he's hurt. He doesn't know.

How much death and/or destruction have they wrought?

Katsumi has only ever done what he had to in order to protect himself. The towns he has destroyed, the lives he has ended, have only been because of their ceaseless pursuit of him. That he's, aware of, at least.

Do they try to prevent unnecessary suffering?

Yes, he doesn't enjoy the suffering of others. And he'll do anything in his power to make something his problem if he sees injustice.

How do they feel about sparing women and children if given the choice? Do they value certain lives over others?

Only children, gender accounts for absolutely nothing. Children are taught hate, they are not born with it. He understands that their understanding is limited.

What's their moral compass like?

Katsumi hopes he is a good person.

How far would they go to save someone they love? Would they sacrifice themselves? Others?

He lost who he was in his attempt to get his mother to love and respect him. Now? Who does he have left? Who does he love? What would he sacrifice? He doesn't know.

What's their pain tolerance?

Very high. This is because Masuyo is taking the brunt of the pain.

Do they feel glee at the sight of blood?

No, he feels horrified. But if Masuyo is active, he'll suppress that feeling into nothingness so that Katsumi can get through the moment.

What do they regret the most?

Same as answer one!

Do they have the ability to love?

He does, very much so. Katsumi is a bleeding heart. In his original media, he fell for somebody due to their kindness. For their heart. Not what they could provide him or how they made him feel. The way they lived their life was simply enough. And in that regard, Katsumi falls in love with every aspect of the world around him.

Do they have empathy? For whom? For what?

Not as much as he'd like. He often doesn't understand or he missteps. But he tries, because he wants to be empathetic. Even if it isn't something that comes naturally to him anymore.

How easy is it for them to get lost in despair?

Katsumi doesn't remember what happens when the thoughts get too dark and the world too crushing. He knows, he hopes, the other him is protecting him. But doesn't that make the despair worse? To not know how low one can get. To never know how bad it is, so you never appreciate the good?

What's their relationship to their body? Self esteem? Self image?

It doesn't align with his mind, but it keeps him going, so he respects his body.

Do they have self worth?

Some, yeah. I mean he hasn't let anybody kill him yet so he's gotta have somethin for himself. Not like he's alive for another.

How do they kill? Do they try to minimize suffering?

Quick and efficient. Katsumi can use the wind as a blade or the katana that sits on his back. Swift. Occasionally he's forced to use his wakizashi, but the end is no different.

What haunts them?

It's well known to the reader, you, that Masuyo is a ghost. But Katsumi is unaware of this, Katsumi thinks he's being haunted by an evil version of himself. So either way, the answer is Masuyo, just how one sees him differs.

What little regrets do they have?

The things he took for granted.

If they could go back in time for 5/10/15 minutes and change something, what would it be?

That's the thing, right? He doesn't know. He can't go back to a time he doesn't remember and change an event he can't process.

How do they view the world? Are they an optimist? A pessimist? A realist?

Katsumi is an optimist! He feels he has to be.

Are they codependent? Do they have abandonment issues?

Oh god yeah. For sure.

What's their relationship to sex? Modesty?

He's a virgin LMAO.

Do they enjoy the taste of blood?

He doesn't care. It's whatever.

Do they enjoy the feel of hot blood on their skin?

No, Katsumi hates how sticky it is. Its why he hates waking up with it on his hands, immediately goes to scrub his skin.

Do they like maiming?

No.

Have they tore someone to shreds with their bare hands? With their teeth?

He's a kitsune, he's definitely torn someone to smithereens with his teeth. Does he remember it? Probably not.

#☾*✲⋆. essence of myrrh #From the Fate ; Ash #⋆｡°✩ Katsumi #⋆｡°✩ Masuyo #since you can't talk about one without the other #༺☆༻ Amant Éternel

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mariacallous · 2 years

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As the report of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) delivers its findings, seven years in the making, the numbers alone are incredibly hard to confront: 79% of the thousands of victims and survivors who gave testimony were under 11 when the sexual abuse started. Children with disabilities and those who were already neglected were exploited disproportionately – a chilling insight into predatory behaviour: how it takes the very quality of vulnerability that should engender empathy and protection, and opportunistically exploits it instead.

Yet it is in hearing the voices of these victims and survivors that you begin to understand the vast and pressing duty this inquiry creates, a duty of root and branch change in how children are perceived, cared for and protected, and alongside that a duty of collective as well as institutional atonement.

The depths of cruelty described are fathomless: children passing out in pain, humiliated, violated, uncomprehending, suffocating under the weight of an abuser, frozen silent in fear. Testimonials to the Truth Project come from every generation, the oldest participants are in their 80s. What they said, and what they said they wanted now, spoke volumes. For 9% of them, this was the first time they’d spoken about their abuse, and they gave their reasons for this bravery very clearly. More than half said they wanted to prevent abuse happening to others; a fifth wanted to be heard. “These monsters have taken enough from me,” one man said. “Today,” he said, he was “going to speak”.

Twenty-one per cent of the Truth Project participants said they sought the opportunity to tell someone in authority about their experiences; 15% just wanted their account to be believed. For some, this was because they had previously not been listened to or taken seriously when they disclosed that they had been sexually abused. Barbara said, “I want my voice heard, I want it on record … I am not the child in the police station.” Another survivor recalled, “There’s so many moments where I was genuinely crying out to people and there was nothing, no one to listen to me.”

These crimes didn’t stop at the perpetrators, but were cloaked and underpinned by surrounding agencies and institutions who dressed up their cowardice as incredulousness. The analogies people use are heartrending. Phoebe, forced at gunpoint into sex work, was “like a little fish in a shark tank”; Adrienne felt “like a ghost – you are the last thing anyone thinks of”.

Prof Alexis Jay, the chair of the inquiry, touches starkly and soberly on the changing attitudes to abuse over the decades: from the 1950s, when people still had a notion of the “seductive child”; through the 1960s and 70s, when allegations would be stonewalled simply because the accused was by definition more powerful than the accuser; the 1980s, when it was yet to be resolved whether a child could or could not consent to sex; the 1990s, when alarm bells were written off as “over-zealous” and “moral panic”; and into this century, when even as the approach became more child-focused the terrain has still been marked by observable “differences in the treatment of wealthy and well-connected individuals, as opposed to those who were poorer, more deprived and without access to networks of influence”.

Certainly, our understanding of child sexual abuse has changed, in the sense that it is an unmitigated moral wrong, none would defend it; and this has tracked our better understanding of trauma, the near limitless harm it can wreak across a lifetime. Yet Jay’s analysis insists that, even though abuse may be better understood, systems to prevent it are still failing.

Of the 20 recommendations, three form the centrepiece: the first, a statutory requirement of mandatory reporting, which could ultimately make it a criminal offence not to report allegations. This is seismic: consider, for instance, last year’s report by Lambeth council into 40 years of failure of the children in its care. By 2020, the council was aware of 705 children’s home residents making complaints of sexual abuse. “Nobody in relevant positions of authority during that time could truthfully have said they did not know about the abuse of children,” it concludes. The second is a scheme for national monetary redress for victims. The third is the creation of a child protection authority, one in England, one in Wales, with the powers to inspect any institution associated with children.

Half of the victims and survivors were abused by family members, the rest in institutions ranging from the Catholic church to boarding schools, from young offender institutions to children’s homes. This careful, granular study reveals so much about the nature of predatory behaviour, and the culpability of the organisations that surround it. Abusers don’t just need their organisations to cover up their behaviour after an allegation, they need the structure of a church or boarding school or children’s home to legitimise their place in a child’s life to begin with. This creates in those bodies with loco parentis responsibility an overwhelming duty not to wait for an allegation and investigate it fairly, but to be constantly vigilant. This duty has often been ignored, and for decades, with effects that will continue to be felt for many more decades still.

This inquiry was always opposed by the Conservatives, Boris Johnson saying that police money spent investigating historic cases of child sexual abuse was being “spaffed up a wall”, in what sounded just like a characteristically vulgar lack of empathy. Perhaps, though, the government foresaw that this would have political implications that would have to be acted upon.

While child sexual abuse knows no class barriers, and can happen at Ampleforth, one of the world’s foremost Catholic boarding schools, as readily as in a children’s home, money still matters. When children are placed in care hundreds of miles from their homes, because private providers have found cheaper rents in Rochdale; when London and the south-east have precisely no secure children’s homes that accept criminal justice children, despite safeguarding being far better in a secure children’s home than in a young offender institution: these decisions create the ideal conditions for abuse to flourish.

The state cannot hold itself above responsibility when all actors, state and non-state, are called upon to regain the trust of the children who were failed and failed so comprehensively. So many are still having, as adults, to live with those failures.

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kcyars52 · 1 year

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‘Vanderpump Rules’ Finale Reveals Scandoval’s Brutal Aftermath

Season 10 finale of the Bravo reality series saw Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair get exposed via some of the rawest exchanges you’ve ever seen

Marlow SternMay 17, 2023

Season 10 finale of the Bravo reality series saw Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair get exposed via some of the rawest exchanges you’ve ever seen

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“Do you want anything?” Sandoval asks her. “For you to die,” Ariana replies (!).

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A Mortal Kombat-worthy Fatality from Ariana, and what we all needed to hear.

“Me and Raquel became, like, really good friends,” mumbles Sandoval, ever the gaslighting weasel.

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT FUCKING RAQUEL!” Ariana screams, drowning out his whine. “YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!”

“NO, IT’S FUCKING NOT!” Sandoval shouts back, adding, “Well, guess what? It’s real because she treats me with fucking respect — something I haven’t gotten from you in a long time.”

So, Ariana comes back for seconds:

But alas, I digress.

Next, we see Sandoval enter Schwartz’s sad breakup apartment — the very place where he would often get down with Raquel — and witness Sandoval, sporting gold lightning-bolt earrings for fuck��s sake, hug Schwartz whilst pushing out some of the most fraudulent tears ever put to screen. Schwartz has, by his own admission, known about the affair since the summer, so this entire exchange feels bogus. The big takeway, I suppose, is that Sandoval continues to try and blame Ariana for his ugly misdeed, and Schwartz is still a spineless coward who refuses to check his guy and is mostly preoccupied with how their bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s, is being review-bombed on Yelp. (May I remind you that Sandoval “borrowed” $250K from his firefighter-mom’s retirement fund to help bankroll the very bar whose reputation he lit on fire?)

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After this nauseating display, we are transported to Heaven — Villa Rosa, where Lisa Vanderpump is playing with her dog, Puffy. Ariana enters, and Lisa does her best to console her.

“On the other side, there’s going to be something beautiful for you,” LVP says. “You know that.”

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“Look, I don’t think that you are that person,” Ariana tells him. “But I will not have mutual friends with him. So, I’m not your friend anymore.” (Ariana, he is that person.)

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Jerry Springer may be dead, but his spirit lives on.

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automatismoateo · 1 year

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I hate my cousins husband. He’s a woman hating control freak. via /r/atheism

I hate my cousins husband. He’s a woman hating control freak.

TLDR; I’m pretty sure my cousin is in a brainwashed abusive relationship by her self centered husband who has made her a different person.

My family isn’t very big and I only have two cousins on each side of my family. So, four total. On my one parents side, things are relaxed. Everyone smokes a bowl before thanksgiving dinner kinda thing.

The other side of my family is rather Christian. Now, I know we do not like Christianity, but my parent on that side, my grandparents, and aunt are all very kind. They fully believe but aren’t very “prudish”. If that makes sense. I don’t agree with much of what they do, but there’s definitely way worse things other Christians do.

Anyway, my older cousin married this guy out of high school about a decade ago. He’s older than her, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it “groomer” older. Just a few years. I do think he used her naivety to his advantage nonetheless. She’s always been head strong and “tough”. I’ve never been super close with her, even as kids, but that’s the impression I always got from her. Athletic and confident. Smart and moral.

Flash forward to now. (Well this past holiday season). I was making my way home on a drive that takes a few hours with my two small kids. My grandfather called me and asked me to come to his house to see my cousins family. They were supposed to have dinner with us the next day, but for whatever reason was no longer doing it with the whole family. (I’ll add a note about this at the end.) I had plans on seeing the “cool” side of my family that day, but I just let them know I’d be late and went ahead to go see my cousin at my grandparents house.

I get there and my cousin and her husband and their two children are there. Also, my father and grandfather. The kids play a little and they were having a great time. Super sweet kids.

About fifteen minutes go by and my cousin goes to the kitchen and comes back and sits down eating a piece of pie. Her husband says “well B, you’re just gonna go get yourself some pie with all these men sittin here?” I laugh a little because that’s obviously sarcasm, right? Her husband says “you got me, R, and your papaw right here waiting on a piece. It’s in the Bible that a woman serves men.” My father just says “I’m fine I don’t need any”. And when my cousin gets up to get more for the men, my papaw gets up and says “oh it’s fine, I can get my own”.

It was super weird. He had zero empathy for my cousin and he had no awareness that the other men did not agree with him. Just loud and proud lady hater. I later asked my dad if he was maybe joking, and he said nope. He says that’s just how he is. And he said he’s “brainwashed” our cousin. It made me think of their kids. A boy and girl. Will that little girl grow up to hate herself? Will that sweet boy become a monster?

I said I’d add a note at the end. They are always canceling on her side of the family. Family holiday. Family vacation. Literally just anything. This time they were going to savannah with his mom. They even went to stay the week at her moms house (15 hours away) a few years ago. One day my aunt woke up and they were gone. She called and asked where they were and they said they left to drive home “because the a/c stopped working” in their room. 15 hour drive. In the middle of the night. Not telling anyone. She and her family will go to this same state that my aunt lives in, that has a certain famous magic park, and not tell her mom she’s there. They’ve also told my aunt that they “don’t have room” for her on trips, but bring her husbands mom along. They even bought a new house with a spare home for his mom. But say my aunt can’t stay with them when she comes to visit.

So yes. That side of my family is Christian. We don’t like that here. But my aunt is a good woman who loves her family. She’s nurse who travels and works for free on people who have no money. She goes to impoverished places and does months of work for nothing because she just wants to help. She has a PhD in nursing. She takes care of everyone she can. An amazing mom and aunt. My dad calls on her when he needs advice. She debates with me without ever being nasty (even though she doesn’t know I don’t believe at all). An all around amazing woman. But she is being completely neglected by her daughter. My mom wasn’t there for me, so how could you do this to a mom who was so wonderful?

Oh I also forgot that they don’t celebrate Santa. Those children got absolutely nothing for Christmas. I know “things” don’t matter, but that hurt my heart for a little 2 and 7 year old. The 7 year old was visibly sad hearing my kids talk about their gifts. Had I known before we got there, I would have told mine not to mention it at all.

Submitted January 22, 2023 at 08:01PM by Vintagepoolside (From Reddit https://ift.tt/KxcOlru)

#reddit

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whaleofatjme1920 · 2 years

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SCP 49 general romance headcannons. Maybe with a D class

SCP 049 Dating a D-Class

[GN!Reader]

[Warnings: I mention murder in the beginning? It's very vague though.]

[AN: I like writing D Class as straight criminals so that's uh, getting worked in here lol. Lets me work in my enemies to lovers trope. Also no, I refuse for this to be seen as an "uwu Reader was just misunderstood" Reader will be appropriately called out for murder.]

Let's get into the meat of it who exactly are you? You were a nurse assistant in a relatively busy hospital. You worked in a senior ward and often helped where you could. However, you had some extreme misguided empathy and would "put people out of their misery" for things you deemed far too hard to deal with. And suddenly, 15 people were dead under your care. Of course, the hospital found this suspicious as the deaths were just too convenient even if the victims were elderly and you were uncovered as their killer. Of course, this is messed up both morally, ethically and in the eyes of the law. You were sentenced and put on death row.

And that leads you to now, with 049.

When D Class are thrown in with 049, it's largely understood they'll end up as one of his little pet projects, a mindless drone that becomes a monster when provoked.

Weirdly enough, I think that 049 kinda knows what the D Class are visiting him for? He's managed to manipulate research and observation staff into giving him info on the D Class being shoveled in because his tendency to want to experiment on them goes up the worse the crime they committed is.

049 finds out what you did and he's absolutely confused. Appalled, kind of gets it? He just has to talk to you.

You end up really fleshing out a relationship with him. It's deeply philosophical, and slowly the two of you start getting closer. He's kind of at odds with you because he doesn't think it's really your place to decide life or death for anyone, but at the same time, he did that for Dr. Hamm under the false notion of "I want to cure him."

He calls you a murderer a lot. It's sneered and you do the same thing back. You know who you're in the presence of.

But that's stuff I'll flesh out later, you wanted romance, it's time for the romance aspect.

You and 049 have a very odd relationship. He's not entirely gentle with you. It's kind of carved out through playful banter and wanting to one up each other.

You two still cannot touch. Because his clothes are a physical part of his body, the two of you cannot touch unless he's wearing like, legitimate gloves of you're in a full on hazmat suit. The Foundation doesn't care about your romantic relationship, so the two of you are often just barely touching each other.

He speaks to you in French and says such sweet, loving things to you. If he's speaking in French, it's pure poetry. He adores you and will let you know in his most beloved tongue.

The two of you don't always feel like talking out loud, so you'll share a notebook and write little notes to each other. Entire journals filled up with secrets, words of love, parts of your life... If you've ever seen those doodle dates where you exchange drawings every 10 minutes, it's a lot like that.

You try to gift him things when you can, and that's pretty sweet of you considered the Foundation doesn't really care about your romantic relationship. It's keeping 049 stable, so that's all they can really ask for.

You and 049 like to dine with each other in the same room.

When he's cuddling you, full hazmat no skin to skin contact, he's warm and purrs! He pecks the side of your head and wishes he could actually kiss you, but for now, this is good enough.

Sometimes you assist him in experiments.

Loves to hold your hand when you're both gloved. He thinks it's very sweet and one of the purest forms of affection and love.

#scp x reader #scp headcanon #scp 049 headcanons #scp 049 x reader #scp 049

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c-is-for-circinate · 2 years

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CR 3.03 post-ep

Ok, last post aside, a proper post-ep!

First: we don't know that Bertrand is going to die here and now, although it does seem pretty likely. I'm sad about this! He was great in this episode, and there was a lot of potential for developing that in interesting ways. Still, having known full well that he was probably temporary, I'm less sad about his loss than about the effect this will likely have on the other characters, because god I have been enjoying how incredibly healthy all their interactions have seemed.

Some thoughts, more specifically:

--All else aside, let me say right up front that I already love these disaster chucklefucks from the bottom of my heart. Half the danger of level 3 has nothing at all to do with the low HP and minimal spell slots, it's about the fact that none of the party know how to work together yet, or even what their own spells can do. I can't wait for level 6-7, when they all start really coming together in terms of who does what and how they fit. (Level 15-16, when they're world-class terrors, is also going to be pretty cool -- but right now I'm looking towards level 7, and I can't wait.)

--I'm so fascinated by Lord E, and I don't trust him at all, but in a way I'm finding really compelling so far. The thing is that he's so nice, sometimes. He's so reasonable. He seems so good. He made them CAKE.

And he talks about wanting to protect people, and requiring that those he employs are more than simple greedy sell-swords out for cash. He talks about his own past as a sell-sword, and the path that helped him learn about morals and ethics and empathy. He says, "I want to take care of the good people of this city in the face of those who unfairly hurt them," and it sounds so good. Especially after the vicious, vocal oppression of campaign 2. He seems, to all appearances, to be an authority figure our party can trust. (Which is bizarre and untrustworthy all on its own, but also so nice.)

Except. Except.

The good people of this city. Ambiguous and repeated and vague. And who are we saving them from, the dregs, the selfish, the scum. Vague and threatening, and one hundred percent in line with any classic good-vs-evil trope from any classic high fantasy series ever made, and yet -- delivered just a little too straight. Just a little too on the nose. Just a little too classic and righteous and propaganda, like Matt already knows what that means.

I absolutely believe that Lord E thinks he's doing the right thing, whatever that is. He was so happy to feed them cake. He really meant it, when he approved of their regret over Danis's death. And yet: he sent a group of armed unknowns to investigate minor theft from one of his subsidiary companies, and offered them a major financial bonus for making it go away completely. And yet.

Anyway: once again, I'm calling this the class warfare campaign until proven otherwise. Lord E doesn't need to be trying to be anything but good to be a whole mess of abusive privilege. Can't wait to see what happens next.

--Keep thinking about how healthy the group dynamics have felt so far, in comparison to VM or the M9 (and please god do not take this as a slight, I loved VM and the M9 with my whole heart, in part very much because of the occasionally fraught and questionably healthy group dynamics). I think it comes down to a question of codependency.

By the time we met Vox Machina, they were already living in each other's pockets for years. They owned a keep together. Vex kept everybody's money, Vax had no sense of personal space, Grog and Scanlan shared brothel visits, and nobody knew the first thing about living without the rest of the group to support them. Five days after the Mighty Nein met they were already on the road together, the last of their lives outside their group still smoldering in ruins on the ground, just instantly all living out of one cart and one cluster of neighboring bedrolls, and a month after that they were dying for each other and scarred about it for the rest of their lives.

This new group, by comparison, just feels so normal. The pre-existing relationships aren't just supportive, they're comfortable. Imogene and Laudna are comfortable together. Ashton and FCG are friendly and like each other very much and are not in any way inseparably entwined on pain of death. The EXU crew know each other pretty well by now, and decided to keep hanging out because they like what they know, not because they need it.

They ALL HAVE SEPARATE LIVING SPACES. One of the things I was so excited about, before the end of the episode, was the prospect of house hunting for the EXU crew -- and just for them, because half the group already has their living situations sorted out! And those living situations don't currently appear to be immediately threatened! They were going to be coworkers, damnit, and yes I have absolutely taken my coworkers' advice on what neighborhood to move to because they liked theirs so much, but I also didn't move in with them a week after starting my new job, and it feels so much (felt so much, before the end of the episode) like this campaign is here for that.

Every person in this group, except for Bertrand Bell, has at least one pre-existing friend within it who they already know how to work comfortably with. Every person in this group, except for Bertrand, already has and has kept friends/acquaintances/relationships outside the group. They have networks. They have people.

They have lives, to whatever small extent, that aren't 100% tied up in exactly how their job may go. And that's really new for CR, and I have been liking it so much.

--And, right, that brings us to this next point, which is that avoiding codependency doesn't actually seem to be interfering at all with this new team discovering that they like each other so much. They're getting to know each other as new coworkers, and they keep being delighted by what they discover. That whole final bar scene was so much fun! Think about everybody meeting Pate de Rolo (Imogene's affectionate, long-suffering little "she does this all the time," which is the biggest #married MOOD, and Laura 'my husband won't stop teasing me about my dice addiction but I get him back by talking about ghosts' Bailey damn well knows it.) Think about Ferne being just so playful with everyone, agreeing that she'd heal Ashton if he were dying. And, yes, Bertrand, because Imogene wouldn't let him chase a lead alone and Dorian tried to lead him towards bed and they were ready to be friends with him too.

I really hope we don't lose that fresh new delight in getting to know each other, now. It's been so hopeful and cheerful and joyful. I want more.

#cr spoilers #episode 3.03

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ravysu · 3 years

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Sannin headcanons and thoughts

The last thing I would like to post for the sannin week. It is still 24.04 here! :D @sannin-central

This is long. Spoiler alert. Mostly Orochimaru, some Tsunade, a little of Jiraiya (because his story is pretty clear and spoken and idk what I can add). Also I recommend to read this meta about Orochimaru, it has influenced me a lot and has some good points. Sorry for any posible grammar mistakes. Also I really should put here a lot of references to the manga or anime but it was something that was piling up for a year and I'm soooooooo lazy. After all, those are just headcanons. Also: Im not excusing Oro's bad stuff here, Im trying to understand the reasons.

Ive already posted some hcs, here, here and here.

1. First if all, the chronology pic of sannin lifetime based on the info i found on naruto wiki and also some statements about wars from this post. It was tough considering what a mess naruto’s chronology is.

2. Sannin story shows what it cost to be a legend. They're like Team 7 but more realistic. Tsunade literally carried the war but left with nothing and developed a ptsd and have problems to just live on. Also anger control issues. I think she can be pretty bossy and stubborn which is not always nice. Jiraiya is the hero of the day but also very idealistic and can ignore some important details in the real word whether its the fight (he always injured during flashbacks maybe because each time he took too much to handle and on the one hand it's heroistic but on the other is a mistake that can lead your team to situations like in that Iwa cave) or your friends issues (I bet he saw what's going on but thought it's fine until Oro actually got red handed and left). He lives in his world and may have problems to get out to see it through someone else's shoes. As for Orochimaru, it seems like he was a normal guy for 20+ years (I mean, he didn't do crazy criminal shit and had something good in him and it was stated somewhere that it was his teammates influence. It is obvious they considered him as a friend, I don't thinks it was for nothing) but we mostly know his darkest side. Despite being a moster he is a human that have empathy and some ordinary human traits (man just decorates every bit of an environment he is in lol).

3. Tsunade was the leader of team Hiruzen.

4. Tsunade sometimes hit Jiraiya for some stupid things he did or said but never touches Orochimaru even if he did something same. Jiraiya complained about it once and almost got another hit.

5. Jiraiya had problematic parents that didn't care about him much and a lot of time he was wandering in the streets.

6. Judging by the look of Oro bangs and hair, he sometimes cut it off. A stress relief huh? And the fact that he doesn't do it now in Boruto..

7. It was shown that Tsunade and Orochimaru was acknowledged before they become a team. Maybe they did just before, or maybe some longer time before. I prefer the second option and hc that they met because both had no real friends - Orochimaru seemed weird and scary for everyone and Tsunade was Senju so everyone wanted to hang out with her but didn't really care. They weren't seen as what they were - people put the labels on them. But they didn't care about each other's labels and actually saw each other in true lights.

8. Tsunade knew it was an accident and it's not right but still she blamed Orochimaru for Nawaki's death for some time. It was something that seriously damaged their friendship and the team. Orochimaru was mad but also guilty, after all, he was responsible at least as a shinobi since Nawaki was under his watch. So he started to act cold and emotionless and was trying to distance himself from his teammates.

9. Jiraiya was in Ame while Dan died.

10. The whole his orphans mission was a bit irresponsible tbh. They already fought Hanzo and as he stated the conflict between Konoha and Ame is going to an end with Konoha's win. It's weird to stay here for three years in the middle of the war while there were other lands to fight. He left his teammates for some idea. Maybe that caused another crack in their team friendship.

11. If Tsunade would have find a way to live on with her trauma and follow the will of fire and stuff it would affect Orochimaru as well just as her grief affected him. It's like he would get an example that you can live on with this pain. So death isn't above human capability and we are not just the slaves of mortality (sounds stupid but i dont know how else to describe sorry). But as we know what he actually saw is that it broke her crucially to the point she couldnt be herself again. And so the death is above everything.

12. Oro wasn’t just acting as a cold pragmatic bitch in that cave but also tried to save Tsunade. Jiraiya knew it and that’s why he showed this sign to him like "I see what youre doing here" and that stunned Oro because he would prefer to look rather like a cold pragmatic bitch hehe

13. Just a thought. People in the village probably treated Oro as a foreigner or just wouldnt accept him because he looked so differently and had a weird attitude. That's why he sometimes didn't feel that Konoha is his home. After the wars where people were treated as means and tools, even the children, he himself developed this view on people - he dehumanized them and used as the means to his goals, just as his village did. Funny thing some people were straightly dehumanizing him too like Ibiki thought that he was a demon (tho he was a child). And he probably weren't the only one. Anyways the point is that it's logical that Orochimaru don't care about anybody but some few people, he's the product of his era. He's like Naruto that would chose the hatred way. But naruto had some good and understanding people around him and.. Orochimaru had them too, but match how Iruka treated Naruto and this Hiruzen's "I sAw tHe mAliCe in This cHiLd fRoM tHe BegGinNinG". And oro didn't even have a big ass evil fox in him. sry i hate hiruzen

ANYWAYS the moral of the story is not "go criminal if they hurt you" but always treat people like people. Waving my hand to Kant.

14. The reason why Orochimaru didn't pick some good morals to stick with through the hard times no matter what (like, idk, Jiraiya or Naruto) is because 1) I think he is/was pretty depending on people around him 2) the war fucked him and his friends up too much (Nawaki incident + Tsunade) 3) twisted addictions (though I don't think he's that sadistic, we never saw him torturing randoms just for fun, it was always some science experimental shit. He tends to get fun out of cruelty only when it's personal) that maybe developed as a way to sublimate anger and sadness caused by his parents loss (that's what they share with sasuke - unlicke naruto, they knew their parents and it's other kind of pain. Sasuke developed a revenge issue and Orochimaru - cruelty pleasure which... is kinda the same but less epic and more occasional lol).

15. Speaking of that, Orochimaru cared for Sasuke because he saw himself in him.

16. Oro hold grudges against Hiruzen for not choosing him to be Hokage not only because he was ambitious and/or egoistic, but also because Hiruzen was some kind of a father figure for him and his approval was important tho i doubt he was aware of that. He also probably could tell that Hiruzen was suspicios about him when he was a child and that led to many conflicts and was hurting as well.

17. Tsunade knew things weren't pretty with Orochimaru after the wars but she never expected them to be this bad. During the week that she was given in her arc she thought not only about how much she wants to see Nawaki and Dan again despite how wrong would it be but also was trying to bury all the good memories she had left of Orochimaru so it would be easier to kill him.

18. She poisoned Jiraiya exactly because she knew he would not let her do it. Jiraiya was always hesitant to kill and inclined to forgiveness, while Tsunade, as mentioned by Orochimaru, could be merciless (so much so that he was not surprised when Kabuto suggested that she wanted to use Jira for Edo Tensei).

19. That was one of her traits that scared Jiraiya and fascinated Orochimaru.

20. Remember how Oro grabbed Jiraiya's neck when the latter was trying to cover with hair jutsu? On the snake, in Tsnade's arc. Orochimaru could have easily kill Jiraiya by pulling the sword out of the mouth (arteries are right there) but he didn't. As well as he could kill Tsunade when she was still shaking - just aim for the neck or the heart. Instead, he just injured her lung and kicked her which is not a big deal for the kind of shinoby like her at all.. Also he helped Anko not accidentally kill herself but it would be way much profitable to let her do it. "Orochimaru has no feelings".

21. The reason he suddenly wanted to kill Tsunade instead of forcing her to heal his arms as it was planned (which is weird since it will not going to get him heals and he kinda said that he wouldn't want to kill her just minutes ago) is that not only she refused to help him (he thought he could work it out) but she also prefered the village over him (from his point of view). Out if everyone she was the closest to being able to understand him since the village caused her painful losses too but nevertheless she agreed to be on it's side.

22. He wasn't fighting her back in the end partly because he thought he deserved that. Somewhere deep inside hahah.

23. Tsunade got a fear to develop deep bonds so they probably weren't very close with Shizune (also the way she knocked her down in this hotel.. oh).

24. Orochimaru will be here when she'll die.

25. Orochimaru's eng dub to Tsunade: "I often wondered what it would be like to ring that pretty neck yours". No comments.

26. Orochimaru is either bi/pan or ace. Anything or nothing lmao

27. Hiruzen knew about at least some of the Oro’s illegal experiments and was okay just as he was okay with the Foundation all the time. Because it’s useful. Then he has discovered he went too far OR he knew everything and oro just became too inconvenient because of his methods. The way Orochimaru tells Sasuke about reasons they are well treated as the criminals is based on in his experience with Hiruzen.

28. As you may know the lyrics in Orochimaru’s music theme goes “don’t talk with the silence of the heart”. It was taken from one Indian song that also had lines like “don’t question life too much”, ”pain arose somewhere in the chest”, “don’t speak to the wounds of the heart”. Though I’m not sure 100% because I was translating it with some hindi dictionary with like zero knowledge of hindi

29. I like to think that this “silence of the heart” theme and the fact that he called his village a hidden sound village are somehow connected. The hidden sound is the possible explanation of all things waiting to be listened to but the truth is silent and you know it deep in your heart and it bothers you. The world is silent just like the life is meaningless but people can only hear. *Sigh* anyways

30. Orochimaru’s journey is the one about accepting death. When he saw Karin released her chains while was trying to get to Sasuke he understood that the death is a part of human’s strength.

Can’t wait to feel that everything I wrote is wrong or not enough or stupid and obvious lol. Anyways, it’s something that I wanted to share until I move to some other fandom.

#sannin week 2021 #orochimaru #tsunade #jiraiya #sannin #naruto #naruto headcanons

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theravennest · 3 years

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Let’s Talk About Shang Chi...

I just got back from seeing Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. I had a great time with it. Just a lovely experience.

The fights were dope. The music was rocking. The actors’ performances really sold me on everything. I loved all the Xianxia elements. Y’all know fantasy worlds are my JAM!

But it was the characters that really drew me in. Every one of them were pitch perfect for me. The final act got a little jumbled, imo, but the characters and their dynamics were so good that it was enough for me to completely forgive and overlook the somewhat messy final battle.

The story had a lot of heart. It was so personal and so anchored in real emotions. I highkey fell in love with all the main characters. I love their journeys and their complex and grounded relationships with each other. I really liked the movie’s examination of grief, loss, and pain and the lengths people will go to in the wake of being overwhelmed by those feelings.

Let’s dig into it! This is gonna be a whole discombobulated mess, I just know it. lmao

***Spoilers below the cut!***

I really felt for Shang Chi, Xialing, and Wenwu struggling to figure out how to be a family again after they were all broken in different ways by the loss of Mama Ying Li. And each one of them trying in their own way to heal from it, some to extremely destructive degrees.

How Wenwu treated his kids after being consumed by grief and violence was so utterly messed up but in two completely different ways.

He treated Xialing like she was anathema, like she was literally nothing. Even when they were older and she had grown into an adult, he barely spoke to her in the entirety of the movie, could hardly even look at her. Partially because she looked like her mom and he retreated utterly from the pain of that, and partially because he constantly underestimated her in favor of her brother. This, of course, seeded the resentful tension between Xialing and Shang Chi from the start.

I’m a real sucker for sibling dynamics, as you all know. They’re my favorite types of family-oriented stories. (Side note, I really love the way the MCU has dedicated several stories to sibling relationships. It’s like my favorite thing in the MCU as a whole.)

I completely ate up the harsh and tricky relationship between Xialing and Shang Chi. Shang Chi completely let her down when they were kids, for her POV. (Not really his fault, he was a scared and traumatized 15 year old. Totally understandable.) But there is something to be said about the fact that she was also a child. A child dealing with her mom’s death too AND her dad’s aloofness. Then she was utterly abandoned by her brother. It’s no wonder she never quite forgives him, even though they mostly team up in the movie. They still have a lot to work out between them.

I really loved that she took on leadership of the Ten Rings at the end. The moment Shang Chi said she was “dismantling” their dad’s empire, I knew what was up. Though, the softy in me does hope that eventually they can find true reconciliation between them. I’m excited to see what we’ll see from her in future movies as a potential enemy of Shang Chi. It’ll be really interesting to see how Shang Chi tackles having to go up against his little sister.

And Shang Chi!!! OMG! Let’s talk Shang Chi and Wenwu now. When Wenwu drop kicked him into the ground and started the blame game for Mama Ying Li’s death like bro!!! I was so heated. He was 7 years old. A whole baby! She died because your thousand years of violence and conquering shit finally came home to roost.

But that one line when Wenwu said Shang Chi’s 7 year old self “just stood there and watched” while his mom was killed actually revealed so much about Wenwu’s character. (The cutting way Tony Leung, a literal legend, delivered that was masterful, btw.)

I actually think that it was the first time Wenwu has ever verbalized that he blamed Shang Chi for Ying Li’s death. Like maybe he’s always felt that way and all this time he was partially punishing Shang Chi for what he thinks of as a failure to protect or help the woman who meant so much to them.

Like, yes, he was training Shang Chi to take his place with him in the Ten Rings as an assassin but maybe he also wanted Shang Chi to kill his mom’s murderer as penance for letting her die in the first place.

Of course, it’s clear to see that Wenwu was absolutely shifting his own feelings of conflicting guilt onto his kids. Guilt that his past as a warlord is what got her killed. But also guilt that he put down the Ten Rings in the first place when if he had stayed a warlord, this never would have happened. But also the bone deep knowledge that if he hadn’t put down the Rings, Ying Li might never have stayed with him and loved him in the first place.

When Shang Chi threw it back at him that Ying Li probably wouldn’t love the person Wenwu had returned to, Wenwu looked so shook up. Phew! Perfect emoting from Tony Leung in that moment.

Honestly, Wenwu was having a very tragic and confusing time of it in this movie. Which is probably how that creature from beyond was able to find a crack in his psychic defenses and lure him to the gate. I had a lot of empathy for him even though I disagree so much with what he did to his kids, emotionally.

I really respect the fact that the movie never lost that sense of compassion for all of their feelings including Wenwu. I also respect that the movie really gave them space to grieve not just the loss of Ying Li but also the resulting dissolution of their happy family.

It’s just too bad that Wenwu’s grief made him push his kids away instead of pulling them closer. He completely emotionally abandoned them. A thousand years of power and supremacy yet he was broken because he never in that time fully learned how to process his emotions in a healthier way and his kids paid the price. They could’ve leaned on each other and on the love they found with Ying Li to help them get through but alas that’s the tragedy of the movie.

I really wanted somehow for Shang Chi to make it through to his dad before he went too far to come back again. I genuinely did not want to see Wenwu die at the end. I wanted him to live and see Shang Chi’s changing dynamic with his father continue. I wanted to see him finally acknowledge his daughter as his true heir and see her accomplishments (dark though they will likely become considering the “softer” version of her is the one that ran an illegal fight club in Macao lmao).

Though I am happy Shang Chi got through to him enough at the end for Wenwu to save Shang Chi’s life, willingly pass the rings onto his son, and somewhat accept his own death after a thousand years of life. That was such a poignant moment between them. And I wonder if in that instant, Wenwu had the thought that in dying he’d at least see Ying Li again.

(Side note: I really hope his soul and the souls of everyone that got eaten were freed when Shang Chi killed the monster. I really want them to be able to move on to the next phase of existence. I really hope they weren’t destroyed after being eaten. I want Wenwu to reunite with Ying Li even in the afterlife, gotdamnit! Sue me, I’m a romantic.)

Let’s talk Simu Liu’s performance here for one second. He was incredible throughout. I completely bought into this strange but so real feeling that while he has a lot of anger towards his father, so much hurt, he also felt a lot of heartache and love for who Shang Chi wanted him to be. And the strange desire to want to help a man who emotionally scarred him so badly.

Simu really brought both sides of Shang Chi’s journey to life. Like, he was tying to find his own path, reconcile with the mistakes he’s made in the past (his sister, killing his mom’s murderer), and facing up against his father’s ideals and expectations. But there was also a side of Shang Chi’s journey that was about finally understand both his sister and his father’s point of views, and of learning/embracing his mother’s history.

That moment by the lake when he revealed to Katy that he had actually killed the man who killed his mother. Whew boy! The emotions were so poignant. Simu Liu played it like *chef’s kiss* beautiful.

Speaking of character choices, I really rate this decision to have him actually go through with the assassination. It puts Shang Chi in an interesting position emotionally and somewhat morally. Instead of having his breaking point be him unable to kill as his father wishes, it’s instead the feeling of guilt and shame that he actually did kill the man.

I wonder if he felt a sense of satisfaction before the disgust and shame settled in. Because Shang Chi literally watched his mom die, he probably initially wanted to help his father hunt down the man because of that bit of dark need for vengeance. Until he got it, and felt ashamed to fully face his mother’s memory afterwards.

I’m interested to see how future Shang Chi movies and Simu will dig into and unpack that little bit of darkness these events instilled in the character.

Let’s talk Ying Li for a second here. This woman was incredible. An incredible martial artist, for sure, a mystical guardian and warrior...but she was also just an incredible person in general. Mama Ying Li was so self-assured, so steadfast in her convictions. She struck me as someone who knows exactly what she wants and is never afraid to reach for it.

Fala Chen portrayed her with such grace, warmth, and strength of character. It was extremely easy to see why Wenwu fell in love with her. She met Wenwu, a literal thousand year old warlord, and through shear strength of character led him to put down his weapons and his empire to make a home with her.

This man threw away his entire shadow army of assassins, threw away his whole plan to literally demolish her village in the pursuit of power...in order to play Dance Dance Revolution with her and their kids. (The highlight of their romance and the family flashbacks, for me, tbh.)

And I know it’s not necessarily...positive BUT there is something...hmmmm, crunchy in the fact that Ying Li so completely altered Wenwu’s life by simply loving him that when she died he was willing to raze the whole world to get her back, damn the consequences.

Trying to properly explore toxic and negative turns in previously loving family dynamics is such a difficult task to take on. I really liked the complexity of the Xu family. All the actors really sold the family side of things. It was an almost tangible thing how much you could see how the love they felt had turned bitter and painful over the years.

The final battle was epic and mind blowing (There was a fucking DRAGON flying around for gods’ sake!) but I do wish it had stayed a little more grounded for longer in the beginning of it when the Ten Rings were fighting the Ta Lo warriors. I wanted to see more of that fight before they had the turn to becoming temporary allies against the soul suckers. It became a little too much of a CGI mash, for me, in some parts of it.

Still, the emotional beats held and the core of the story of this grieving family trying to hold on to the tatters of their world stayed consistent even through the final battle. I can forgive a lot because of the strong sense of character and connection there.

Plus, it’s a comic book movie. Spectacle is the name of the game and at least this one had cool fantasy beasts and dope fight choreo.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Let’s wrap it up here. Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful time with this movie. I’m ready for the next one!

#shang chi #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings #mcu #xu shang-chi #simu liu #tony leung #xu wenwu #meng'er zhang #xu xialing #ying li #fala chen #mcu spoilers #shang chi spoilers #liveblogging

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jewish-privilege · 3 years

Link

(...)

I was a 12 years old when I was attacked by a mob of children and called "Christ killer" — the same age Jesus was, according to the Gospel of Luke, when he lingered in the Temple of Jerusalem and impressed the elders with his intellect — so this issue is undeniably personal. That wasn't the first or last time I was bullied for being Jewish, but it was the only time I nearly died because of it: Those kids held my head underwater, chanting, "Drown the Jew!"

This incident sprang back to mind this month as Republicans tried to figure out what to do about Greene, a particularly obnoxious Christian right-winger who has suggested that a "space laser" affiliated with Jewish banking families caused the 2018 Camp Fire in California, expressed sympathy for the anti-Semitic QAnon fantasies, promoted a video that claimed Jews are trying to destroy Europe, posed for a picture with a Ku Klux Klan leader and liked a tweet linking Israel to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

(...)

None of this is surprising for anyone who is familiar with the history of American anti-Semitism. Greene is not an aberration, some inexplicable pimple of hatred that blemishes the American right's otherwise Jew-friendly visage. The American right has long had an anti-Semitism problem, and she's just the latest symptom.

This history of hatred "tells us much more about the anti-Semite than it tells us about Jews," Dr. Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, told Salon. After citing an Israeli historian who refers to anti-Semitism as a "cultural code," Sarna explained that beliefs that vilify Jews as malevolent plotters who secretly control the world have a long history in American political life. "These ideas, which I think many on the left frankly had thought were done and over with, we suddenly see them full blown," he said

Before the 19th century, Sarna explained Jews were stereotypically depicted as being cursed: They were "wandering Jews" for their supposed role in killing Jesus Christ. In the modern era, however, the stereotype emerged that Jews secretly controlled the world and were responsible for everything that a given anti-Semite might regard as sinister. During the Civil War, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant blamed the Jews for cotton smuggling and expelled the entire Jewish community from areas he controlled in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. When the populist movement arose to address agrarian economic concerns in the 1890s, Jewish bankers like the Rothschilds were a frequent target among ideological leaders like William Hope "Coin" Harvey.

(...)

There's a direct line between those conspiratorial fantasies ideas from previous decades and the anti-Semitic attacks of the 21st century. "Conspiratorial thinking, by its nature, argues that everything is connected," Sarna explained. "There are no coincidences and it eschews complexity. It believes there are simple explanations based on sinister individuals who are manipulating the universe. Unsurprisingly, in a Christian setting, those are Jews."

Those ideas can evolve — Sarna pointed out that the QAnon belief in a giant child abuse ring run by Jews is analogous to the "blood libel," the medieval myth that Jews used the blood of Christian children for rituals — but the underlying assumptions have been consistent. It just so happens that, in the modern right-wing incarnation, Donald Trump's cult-like following believes that "all the enemies of Mr. Trump are now child molesters."

(...)

[Jewish comedian Larry Charles] brought up community organizer and political theorist Saul Alinsky, a favorite target of the right. "He is almost like the devil in a way," Charles observed. "He's like this radical leftist Jew, he fits all the categories. He checks all the boxes."

"Shooting some of these movies, we would see reasonable people who have this blind spot," Charles said. "They have this crazy belief, and there were all different applications and manifestations of it, that the Jews control everything. That is like a mantra amongst a certain segment of the population."

(...)

With the election of Trump in 2016, those ingrained belief systems — which for many years had been kept outside the American political mainstream — became more prominent, and their adherents more emboldened. David Weissman, a military veteran and former conservative Republican who stopped being a self-described "Trump troll" after a 2018 conversation with comedian Sarah Silverman, told Salon about his encounters with anti-Semitism on the right.

Back when he still supported Trump, Weissman recalled, he got into a "little spat" with an alt-right commentator who calls himself Baked Alaska, who was recently arrested after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Ultimately they moved past it, Weissman said: "We both realized we were Trump supporters" who believed "Democrats were the bad guys." Once he left MAGA world, however, Weissman said "the anti-Semitism definitely escalated" in interactions with his former allies.

"When I became a Democrat, I was called 'the k-word'" and targeted by "anti-Semitic slurs and tropes," Weissman said. Trump supporters sent "memes of me being Jewish in the oven," and "put my name in parentheses," a common tactic used by the far right to target someone for being Jewish.

(...)

"Anti-Semitism certainly did not start with Marjorie Taylor Greene, nor did it start with Donald Trump, but we have seen an exponential increase in violent anti-Semitic incidents during Donald Trump's presidency," Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told Salon. "That is no doubt related to the fact that he emboldened and aligned himself with white nationalism." She mentioned Trump equating the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville with the peaceful protesters by "commenting that there were very fine people on both sides," refusing to denounce white nationalism and telling the right-wing Proud Boys during one of the campaign debates to "stand back and stand by."

"White nationalism had existed in our country prior to that, and anti-Semitism as an element of it, but white nationalists had never had an ally in the White House until Donald Trump," Soifer said.

(...)

Donald Trump's supposed pro-Israel policies were closely aligned with those of Benjamin Netanyahu, and did nothing to correct for Trump's history of anti-Semitic words and actions. He accused Jewish Democrats of "great disloyalty" toward Israel (feeding into the stereotype that Jews have dual loyalties), removed any specific reference to Jews from a 2017 State Department statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day and has frequently used anti-Semitic dogwhistle terms by opposing "globalists" and describing himself as a "nationalist." When I interviewed Charlotte Pence, the daughter of former Vice President Mike Pence, she talked about her family's love of Israel but refused to answer a question about whether she believes Jews are going to hell — or discuss the creepy messianic theories underpinning the Christian right's support for Israel.

When I asked Larry Charles whether, based on his experiences, there's an opportunity to build bridges with anti-Semites, he was skeptical. "I have not seen a lot of opportunities for bridge building in the situations that I've been in," Charles explained. "The people that I've met through Sacha [Baron Cohen] were very rigid and dogmatic in their prejudices. There was no crossing that gulf with them. There might be tolerance, temporarily. There might be patience, temporarily. But there's no changing that belief."

I hope that Charles is wrong but suspect he is right, which raises the question of how American Jews should react to the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world. For want of a better alternative, I think the only solution is to be intolerant toward intolerance. House Democrats were right to strip Greene of her committee assignments, but that is not nearly enough. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter need to do more to limit hate speech, even if conservatives cry foul in bad faith (the First Amendment only protects people from government censorship, not consequences from private corporations). Right-wing politicians who attack prominent Jews in ways that can be plausibly construed as anti-Semitic, or by denouncing "globalists," need to lose their funding. People who oppose anti-Semitism must lead boycotts against right-wing media figures who cover for people like Greene, such as Fox News' Sean Hannity.

On a broader level, critics of anti-Semitism must recognize that this form of bigotry is part of America's long history of hate — a history which holds that only white, straight Christian "manly" men have a right to rule — and recognize our responsibility to be allies to African Americans and the Latinx community, Muslims and the LGBT community, women suffering under the patriarchy and the poor struggling to make ends meet. If we limit our empathy merely to other Jews, the implicit message is not that systemic oppression is wrong, but only that we happen to dislike it when our group is targeted. The Jewish tradition at its best instills a moral responsibility to see all the layers of oppression, and align ourselves with its victims.

[Read Matthew Rozsa’s full piece in Salon]

#marjorie taylor greene #antisemitism #american antisemitism

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cinnamonruts · 3 years

Text

QUIRK OF: KARASUNO!

SUMMARY → what i think the quirks of the karasuno team members could be

CHARACTERS → sawamura daichi, sugawara koshi, azumane asahi, nishinoya yu, tanaka ryu, ennoshita chikara, kageyama tobio, hinata shoyo, tsukishima kei, yamaguchi tadashi, shimizu kiyoko, yachi hitoka

sawamura daichi ▸ this might be an unpopular opion but i think he might not have a quirk. he becomes a police officer in the future which doesn’t say he has no quirk at all but most of them don’t have any big quirks... and i just think he wouldn’t have one.

sugawara koshi ▸ an empathy type quirk. it can be either that he feels people their emotions or he can make people feel better about themselves. obviously he would call his first technique “negativity be gone” how could he not?

azumane asahi ▸ our future fashion designer has a creation quirk, but he can only make fabrics. to do so he does need to know how the fabrics work ( which he learns in fashion school anyways ) to be able to creat them. because of his quirk many classmates want to work together as fabrics are EXPENSIVE. unfortunately for them ; asahi has a string moral compas and only makes them when absolutely necessary. otherwise he’ll buy them locally.

nishinoya yu ▸ an electric based quirk ( this is definitely not because he was born with that streak in his hair, definitely not ) he can burst out electricity from the streak of his hair as attacks and can also absorb it through his hair and he calls his strongest attack “rolling thunder”

tanaka ryu ▸ gigantification. honestly i was at a lost of what ryu his quirk would be... but then i was like; GIANT TANAKA! he wants to be intimidating? he got it. his quirk allows him to tower over anyone and anything. he might be wingless but if you are ready to rumble so is he.

ennoshita chikara ▸ telekenises. you can not tell me this man would not just be able to pick up things with his mind. “hey, ennoshita can you hand me the volleyball?” “no” ; *uses his mind to slam it in their face* ( could also see ... not condoning it, but it would be helpful with cheating, yk? being able to nudge the ball in the right way )

kageyama tobio ▸ an analytical/calculating quirk that allows him to see the situation and tell him with a 99% accuracy what the next action of the person is. it used to be a lot lower, but by training it will get higher. also, if he continues on with his training he one day might be able to influence their decision as well.

hinata shouyo ▸ jumping as high as he does is a super power at it self and that’s exactly why his quirk is being able to jump very high. as it gets higher by training they did not know his quirk until his early teen years. the doctor was aware that he had a quirk but could not pinpoint what it was.

tsukishima kei ▸ is being salty a quirk? it is now. his quirk is being able to physically hurt someone by shading them. the downfall is that he has to know where to hurt them for the final knock-out, but over the years he has found the general insecurities almost everyone has.

yamaguchi tadashi ▸ a flower type quirk. any naturally grown ogarnism he knows the meaning of and it’s living invorment he can grown out of his skin by will of power. he can also use his hands to let them re-grow or blossom again when they are struggling/dying. ( yes, i am pushing my flower-boy yams agenda )

shimizu kiyoko ▸ a speed type quirk like quicksilver. she was in track and was amazing at it, if she had a quirk i think it could be that.

yachi hitoka ▸ she can make anyone feel an incredibly strong infatuation or love towards her for a set amount of time. after some tests where done they found out it was not longer then 15 minutes. how they found out? her pupils turn heart-shaped as she used her quirk.

A/N → if you have other ideas let me know!

MASTERLIST | TAGLIST → @lovinnoya @suga-tofu @tanakasimpcorner @lonelyweeb77 @tanakasprayer @bakugoubiddies @kloudyisdepressed

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